


Trapped in the Arena

by Lady_Sci_Fi



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: F/M, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2019-10-11 12:02:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17446601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Sci_Fi/pseuds/Lady_Sci_Fi
Summary: In the city of Radiance is a wildly popular gladiatorial arena. One that the Doctor and Sarah are forced into.





	1. Chapter 1

 “Doctor? What is it?” Sarah asked, staring up at the Timelord.

 The Doctor was quiet as he inspected the console of the hovercar.

 “Doctor, come on. I know that face.” Sarah glanced to the console as well. “That wasn’t blinking before.”

 Something within the vehicle gave off an alarm sound, and that was all the warning they had before the car suddenly dropped and heavily skid across the ground.

 ********

 “Sarah!” the Doctor shot upright. He immediately regretted the action at the spiked pounding in his head, and fell back onto what felt like pillows.

 He blinked slowly, willing the pain away, and let out a relieved breath with Sarah’s face appeared over him.

 “I am so glad to see you awake,” Sarah said as greeting. She sat on the edge of the bed and tenderly touched his face with her palm.

 The Doctor leaned in to the touch, and breathed slower to calm his heart rate. After a few breaths, he gingerly moved his head to glance around. “Where are we? What happened?”

 “I haven’t been awake very long, but looks like a hospital of some sort. Considering we were in a car crash, that can only be a good thing. We weren’t close to any towns or anything either when we crashed.”

 The Doctor hummed as he refocused on her. “I remember that part.”

 “I thought we were done for when it flipped onto its top, and there were sparks and smoke. It gets hazy for me after that, but we crawled out… well, more like you pulled me out, I think. I passed out soon after that.”

 “I must have, too, because that’s where my memory of it ends.”

 Sarah lifted her other hand to bring her fingers to her mouth, and winced at the movement. The Doctor’s attention went to her thickly-wrapped wrist and hand. Before he could ask, Sarah answered, “Severe sprain, according to my chart.”

 “Nothing too bad, then?”

 “This seems to be the worst of my damage.” Sarah gestured to the computer screen attached to the wall above and beside the Doctor’s bed. “I had a look at yours, too.”

 “Whatever happened to doctor-patient confidentiality?” the man joked.

 Sarah chuckled. “As if you wouldn’t have looked at mine if you’d woken first.”

 “Hm… But aren’t I the Doctor?”

 Sarah rolled her eyes and smiled in affection.

 “Anything wrong with me?”

 “Bad concussion. I’ve got a minor one. And you’ve got a fractured collarbone. We’ve both got a few scrapes and bruises.” Sarah blew out a breath. “I think we were lucky, all things considered.”

 The Doctor nodded. “Anyone been in to check on us?”

 “Not since I’ve been awake.” She glanced towards the window across the room, remembering what she had seen when she had taken a longer better examination out of it earlier. “I’ve had a look out the window. We’re in a city. Can’t tell any more than that.”

 “I’m sure they’ll check on us and tell us everything soon enough.” He sank back against the pillows and closed his eyes.

 “I wonder what happened,” Sarah mused. At the Doctor half-opening one of his eyes at her, she clarified, “With the car, I mean.”

 The Doctor shrugged, and grimaced at the flare of pain in his collarbone. “Without getting a look at it, I wouldn’t know. I didn’t get a good chance to figure out what was blinking and why.” He sighed, “But, what matters is that we survived it, and are on the mend.”

 Sarah gave a small smile. “Yeah.” She glanced around, then said, “I’ll go back to my bed now, if you don’t mind.”

 The Doctor nodded, and fully relaxed. Sarah took the three steps to her bed, and laid down on her side, facing him. She pulled the blanket up over her. Sarah watched the Doctor for a moment before closing her eyes.

 A few minutes later, they both opened their eyes at the sound of the door sliding open. They both sat up at the sight of two medical staff coming in, the Doctor’s movement a little more careful than Sarah’s.

 The Human-looking one went to the Doctor, while the pale-blue skinned one with antennas poking out through his hair went to Sarah. Both personnel started with looking at the computer screens by their beds to check their bio-signs and injury lists. Then they asked the couple their names and how they were feeling.

 “Would you be so kind to tell us where we are?” the Doctor asked after they provided the requested information.

 “Radiance,” the woman tending to the Doctor answered simply.

 He nodded, remembering hearing the name of the city before.

 “We’ll make a full recovery?” Sarah inquired.

 “Oh yes, You’ll both be completely fine within a few days, especially if you don’t do strenuous activity,” replied the man waving a device over Sarah’s injured wrist and hand.

 “Hear that, Doctor?” Sarah called teasingly.

 “Same goes for you, Sarah,” the Doctor retorted.

 Sarah stuck her tongue out at him when he turned to grin at her.

 The alien man lightly laughed. “At least you are already in good spirits.”

 “We do try,” the Doctor responded.

 A few minutes later, the medical pair finished their examination, and determined that the couple was healing nicely and on schedule. “You’ll be allowed to go tomorrow morning,” the woman stated. “Now that you’re awake and have been examined, you will be visited later today.”

 The Doctor and Sarah glanced to each other, not knowing anyone from this city. “By who?” Sarah asked.

 “The people who found you and brought you here.”

 “Oh, that’s nice,” Sarah remarked.

 “We’ll be able to show them our gratitude,” the Doctor agreed.

 “Who knows how long we might’ve been left out there if they hadn’t come along,” Sarah muttered.

 “You’ll be brought food soon, and tomorrow morning we’ll be back to make certain you are fit to be released,” the alien man said before he and his partner left.

 “Thank you,” Sarah said. Then she turned to the Doctor to ask, “So, any idea where Radiance is in relation to where we left the Tardis?”

 The Doctor raised his brow. “Now why would you think I know that?”

 “I don’t know,” Sarah replied lightly. “You seem to know everything, sometimes.”

 “Do I? Perhaps I shouldn’t be as obvious to you when I do know everything.”

 Sarah giggled and shook her head. Then she stood, stretched her arms over her head, and went over to the storage drawers by the window, which held their clothes and other belongings that had been on them. “Want your jacket or anything?” she asked.

 “I’m fine,” the Doctor answered.

 “Suit yourself.” Sarah considered putting the Timelord’s jacket on, but decided to slip into the lighter one she had been wearing. She wasn’t cold enough to justify wearing his, though she knew he wouldn’t mind that at all. She returned to her bed.

 They were brought food soon after, and the couple ate and talked about whatever crossed their minds.

 About an hour after their meal, the door opened again. This time, a pale-blue-skinned man and woman came in, dressed in civilian clothes.

 “Are you the ones we have to thank for providing us with help after our accident?” the Doctor asked.

 Sarah didn’t say anything, getting a strange vibe from the two. There was something about the way they looked over her and the Doctor that unsettled her, something she couldn’t quite place. The Doctor didn’t seem to feel it, his friendly demeanor not dropping for a second.

 “Yes,” the woman smiled brightly. “I am Leva Teven, and this is my husband Javo.”

 Javo informed, “We came across you this morning on our way back to Radiance from business in Hollow Point.”

 “I’m the Doctor, and this is Sarah,” the Doctor introduced. “We’re very grateful you did find us.”

 “Very grateful,” Sarah repeated, trying not to let her suspicious feelings about the pair stop her from being polite.

 “We simply wanted to make certain your recovery was going well,” Leva said.

 “Should be back to tip-top shape within a few days. Possibly sooner,” the Doctor answered.

 “That’s great news. It was a nasty wreck,” said Javo.

 “You’re telling us,” Sarah remarked.

 “We are also here for compensation for our aid,” Leva stated.

 “Compensation?” Sarah echoed. “Well, we don’t exactly have anything to give, except our sincere thanks.”

 “As sincere as I’m sure that is…” Leva and Javo glanced to each other and nodded, as though they had already discussed this possibility, before the woman continued, “That is not enough.”

 “Whatever happened to being a good Samaritan?” the Doctor asked pointedly.

 “A what?” Javo asked in confusion.

 “Someone who helps simply because another needs it, not expecting any reward,” the Doctor explained.

 Leva’s brow raised slightly. “Are you not from anywhere around here? Aid is expected to be met with compensation. Especially for something so big as what we did.”

 “Can’t you make an exception in our case?” Sarah inquired. “Because you’re not going to get anything from us. We have nothing to give you.”

 “Compensation does not have to be monetary or material,” Javo replied.

 “And what does that mean?” Sarah struggled to keep her tone polite, now that the pair had made clear why they were here. Not that she could fault them for wanting what they did, but surely there was a better way to go about it than to ambush them in their hospital beds and make demands?

 “You’ve already figured something else out for us, then?” the Doctor asked, his tone now having an icy undertone.

 “We could use you services for a time,” Javo answered. “We’re prominent providers of entertainment in the Bastion Arena here in Radiance.”

 “Arena? Like a gladiator arena?” Sarah’s hand tightened in the blanket.

 “Exactly like that,” Leva responded.

 “You cannot be serious.” Sarah barely stopped her injured hand from also fisting in the blanket.

 “We will come collect you in the morning after you have been cleared to leave. If you want to try to escape, be our guest. But you will not be allowed to leave now that we have requested compensation from you,” Javo smiled.

 Sarah pressed her mouth together tightly and set her jaw.

 “If you’re so prominent in your business, surely you don’t need us?” the Doctor pointed out.

 “No, but that’s beside the point. See you tomorrow.” Leva mockingly waved as she and her husband left.

 Sarah sat perfectly still in anger and slight shock, until the Doctor’s arm came around her shoulders and pulled her in close.

 The Timelord whispered, “What do you say to an escape attempt tonight?”


	2. Chapter 2

 The next morning, the Doctor and Sarah were not in the best of moods as they sat on their beds in their hospital rooms. The escape attempt had been fruitless, and they had been locked in their room. They had considered the window, but they were too high up to seriously give it a try, especially with their injuries.

 Sarah sulked when the door opened and the two medical personnel from yesterday walked in to check on them.

 “Your spirits have changed,” the blue-skinned man noticed as he approached Sarah.

 “To be expected,” the Doctor remarked. He relaxed his shoulders at the prompting from the woman.

 The female medic waved a scanner over the Timelord’s collarbone and chest. “Did the people who brought you here seek compensation?”

 “Oh yes,” Sarah answered, not at all hiding her emotion. “They didn’t accept we had nothing to do so with, and decided a spot of indentured servitude would do.” She then grimaced at her sprained wrist being lightly rotated by the alien man.

 “Sorry,” he apologized.

 Sarah took it to mean both for her wrist and their situation, and responded, “Not your fault.”

 “Is that a common thing here?” the Doctor inquired. “Indentured servitude?”

 “It’s not uncommon,” the woman shrugged. “Did they say what you would be doing, if you don’t mind me asking?”

 “Gladiator arena,” Sarah snorted. “Wasn’t any more specific than that.”

 “The Bastion Arena?” the male medic asked.

 “That’s it, yes,” the Doctor affirmed.

 “Is it dangerous?” asked Sarah as the medic gently rubbed a salve over her hand and wrist. She felt a tingling sensation seep into her skin.

 “As dangerous as any sport, I suppose. If you mean if there are fights to the death or anything such as that, there is little entertainment and profit in killing the fighters.”

 “Well, that’s something,” Sarah sighed. She tried to cheer herself up with, “We might not even have to worry about being fighters. Maybe they just want some cleaning staff or something.”

 The Doctor hummed in response, and stared straight ahead as the woman continued her check-over of his condition.

 A few minutes later, both patients were cleared to leave, whenever Javo and Leva came to get them to begin their involuntary servitude. The medical pair advised them to take it easy for the next few days and wished them luck.

 Sarah looked over to the Doctor and noticed he hadn’t moved or said anything. She got up and went over to him. She put her unwrapped hand on the back of his head and kissed his temple. She then sat on the bed next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. The Doctor reacted for the first time in minutes, tenderly laying his hand over Sarah’s bandaged one, and leaning his head against hers.

 ********

 Leva and Javo came for them not long after they had eaten breakfast. Sarah’s method of dealing with how upset she felt was to simply stay silent. The Doctor had the same idea, and the other couple simply took it in stride. The Doctor and Sarah had already changed into their clothes and collected their things, so all that was left to do was check out at the reception desk.

 Sarah noticed the blue-skinned medic, seemingly keeping an eye on them as they left the hospital. For some reason, she had the sudden urge to know his name, and made note of the tag on the chest of his uniform- Yezan. As they walked out, she looked back, and he gave her an encouraging smile and wave.

 “You’re both Human?” Javo inquired after they got into their car. The Doctor was forced to sit up front with Leva, and Sarah in the back with Javo.

 The Doctor didn’t answer, so Sarah didn’t either.

 Leva sighed as she steered the vehicle. “We’ll find out soon enough, if you’re going to be so uncooperative right now.”

 “Can you blame us?” Sarah burst out. “There’s no good reason for this, is there? Did you pay our hospital bill?”

 “No,” the blue-skinned woman replied. “Anything medical is paid for by the government.”

 “Then I really don’t get it.”

 “They see it as us owing them our lives,” the Doctor said very quietly. “And so they claim it.”

 “I would not say it like that,” Javo responded, the small antennae on his head bristled visibly.

 The Doctor turned to face him. He flashed a smile. "Perhaps not.” His smile disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. “Doesn’t mean it isn’t true.” His gaze flickered over Sarah before he settled back in his seat.

 Sarah snorted and banged her head back against the seat cushion.

 “Oh, come now, it won’t be so bad,” Javo said.

 Sarah turned to him, and felt a shiver shoot down her spine at the way he was looking at her. His eyes went over her face and body and back up again. She folded her arms. “That’s not the point.”

 “Let them sulk,” Leva commented. “If that is what they wish.”

 Sarah nearly shot back, but bit her lip to stay quiet instead. They’d find a way out of this, and arguing with the two wasn’t going to achieve anything. So, she turned her head to watch the city go past out her window.

 It was a beautiful city, and Sarah thought it was a shame she and the Doctor weren’t out walking along the white stone streets, playing in the light-coloured fountains, and eating whatever no-doubt delicious street food was being sold. Instead, they were being driven to some fighting arena, and towards who knew what.

 The Doctor and Sarah didn’t say anything until Leva pointed through the windshield and announced, “Here we are.”

 Sarah looked through it at the sleek metal tower ahead. The Doctor didn’t even bother to push his hat up from over his eyes, and remarked, “Wake me when we’re actually somewhere I want to be.”

 “Then you should’ve stepped into a taxi,” Leva retorted.

 Sarah noticed the rounded stone wall nearby, and it reminded her of the Roman Coliseum. It was in very good shape, and the stone was grey with blue streaks. Quite beautiful, if she was here under her own will.

 They soon entered a garage within the tower, and were told to get out the car. The pair cooperated as they were taken up in a lift.

 “We’ve arranged for living quarters for you. We assumed you wanted to stay together?” Javo said.

 “Yes,” the Doctor quickly answered.

 “I’m glad to know we read you correctly,” Leva smiled. “We’re taking you there now, so you may rest and heal before things become more rigorous for you.”

 Sarah’s “thank you” was said through clenched teeth, not hiding how she felt at all.

 “Only one stop before then,” Leva continued as the lift did stop.

 Sarah rolled her eyes to the Doctor, and he patted her forearm in response.

 “Only a bit of processing,” Javo assured.

 The Doctor and Sarah told them their names, and they had their photos taken before being told to stand in a scanner machine. The Doctor went through first, and the attendant studied the results.

 “He doesn’t match any sentient species in our database,” the attendant stated after a moment.

 “Dreadful habit I have at times, upsetting databases,” the Doctor grinned.

 Sarah went through next, then stepped out with the Doctor taking her unwrapped hand.

 “Human,” the attendant affirmed.

 “I see,” Leva nodded. “Send us the full results.”

 They were led back to the lift. Sarah was surprised that the other couple didn’t ask the Doctor what he was. Perhaps they realized it wouldn’t be fruitful asking them much else while they were still upset.

 The Doctor and Sarah were shown into their quarters, then left alone.

 “At least they’ve given us a swanky flat,” Sarah remarked, walking around to look at everything.

 The Doctor tried to open the front door, and sighed as it refused to slide open at his presence.

 “Nice view,” Sarah appreciated as she pulled open the curtains of the living room. They were higher above the rest of this section of the city. Sarah was glad their rooms didn’t have a view of the nearby arena.

 “A gilded cage with a view,” the Doctor mused quietly, approaching Sarah from behind.

 Sarah leaned forward against the glass, resting her forehead against her good hand to stare out more. “What do we do now?”

 “What they said. Rest up before things begin to get rigorous.” He stood behind her and awkwardly wrapped one arm around her abdomen, wincing slightly at the pull of his injured collarbone. “And hope they tell us the conditions of our indentured servitude soon.”

 Sarah shuddered, and leaned back into the Timelord’s hold.


	3. Chapter 3

 A couple of hours later, Sarah answered a knock at the door, and it slid open at the presence of whoever was waiting. For a split-second, she considered taking a swing if it was Leva or Javo, but the possibility of that opportunity was impossible at the sight of another person standing there holding onto a trolley. She saw some fruit in one of the open boxes.

 “Your groceries for the week,” the young blue-skinned man explained before Sarah could ask. “And some clothes.”

 “Yes, I did notice the rather nice kitchen, but lack of food to cook,” Sarah tried to say lightly. For the man’s part, he didn’t seem to take any offense at the underlying tone of annoyance. Sarah smiled slightly and stepped aside to let him in. “Thank you.”

 “I am also here to explain how this arrangement works.” He noticed Sarah’s injured hand, and without any prompting, began to put the food in the pantry and refrigerator.

 The Doctor quickly sat up on the sofa, and winced at pain the sudden movement brought. “Oh, now that’s something I’m interested in hearing.”

 “Does that make you our minder, then?” Sarah inquired.

 “I provide this service to many of the employees who live here.” He finished putting the food away and turned to the pair. “Due to your more unusual circumstances, there are certain things only Javo and Leva can inform you about.”

 “Such as why we’re locked in our apartment?” the Doctor brought up casually.

 The young man flashed an almost nervous smile. “I speak more generally. Whether you are talent or other support for the Bastion Arena entertainment, this housing is provided to you for free. You do not have to worry about food and other basic needs.”

 “Least they could do,” Sarah muttered.

 “You may request anything at any time using the computer. If you are permitted to leave, then you may go about the city and get whatever you need or want that way.”

 The young man went over some other pieces of minutiae about how things worked, which did indeed paint a nice picture, if only the Doctor and Sarah weren’t there against their will. He left a short while later, with the promise that Javo or Leva would be by to inform them of further specifics.

 “Well, I can certainly see why someone would like working for this place,” Sarah remarked. She went over to the bag of clothes, and pulled out a dark grey tanktop that was her size.

 “Pity for them we don’t want to,” the Doctor replied.

 Sarah kept up her barely-held-together politeness when Javo came to talk to them. The Doctor adopted an air of indifference about the whole being forced into indentured servitude situation.

 After being told they would be allowed free access to the rest of the tower complex and given keycards to do so, they were told that their servitude was for six months.

 “Six months?” Sarah’s eyes widened. She took a step towards Javo, but the Doctor grabbed blocked her with his arm and sharply shook his head at her before she could get started with her protesting.

 “Leva and I thought that was a fair tenure.” Then Javo asked the Doctor what he was.

 With a dismissal wave, the Doctor answered, “Gallifreyan.”

 “Gallifreyan? Where is that from?”

 “You asked for what I am.”

 Javo rolled his eyes. “And now I’m asking where you’re from.”

 “Earth,” the Doctor shrugged.

 “Thank you,” Javo accepted. “Now, you both will be evaluated in a few days, when your injuries have completely healed.”

 “Evaluated? To determine if we’re going to fight in your arena or do something else?” Sarah asked.

 “Yes. As for my preference, I do think you at least, Doctor, would do well as one of our talents.”

 “I’d like to know what evidence that preference comes from,” the Doctor responded.

 “You simply seem to be the fighting type, when you need to. You as well, Sarah.”

 “I’m not sure if we should take that as a compliment or not,” Sarah snorted.

 Javo shrugged. “That is completely up to you. Either way, we’ll know in the next few days. Until then, enjoy our hospitality.”

 Sarah glared at the man until he left. “’Enjoy our hospitality,’” she echoed mockingly.

 “Gives us time to see if we can escape,” the Doctor pointed out.

 Sarah sighed, and gingerly patted his arm. “I suppose so.”

 ********

 Three days later, without any luck escaping, a doctor looked over the couple, and determined they were fit for whatever duty they were assigned to. Only an hour later they were summoned to the training courtyard for assessment.

 The last thing Sarah wanted to become was one of their fighter talents, non-death matches or not. That was certainly not how she wanted to spend the next six months, if they still hadn’t escaped before then.

 “So, what do you want me to do? A little song and dance?” the Doctor asked with a mad grin and little skip.

 “Oh no, that’s already covered,” Leva replied, smiling in return.

 Another man joined them, one who was a couple inches shorter than the Doctor, but looked tougher and stronger.

 “This is Malenkis,” Javo introduced the green-skinned yellow-eyed alien. “One of the fighters.”

 “Nice to meet you,” the Doctor extended his hand to the fighter, who took it.

 “We simply want to see what you’re capable of. Both of you,” Javo stated.

 The Doctor released Malenkis’ hand and stepped back. “I see. A friendly bout, then?”

 “You’re not here to hurt each other.” Leva took a step back, and beckoned for Sarah to do the same. Once her husband and Sarah had done so, she prompted, “Whenever you’re ready.”

 Malenkis dropped into a fighting stance. The Doctor didn’t, and simply tilted his head at the other man with a smile. He didn’t really want to fight, didn’t want to give these people what they wanted. But, he disliked being hit and was going to defend himself. And, if he did what they wanted well enough, he could possibly gain some leverage to get something he wanted in return.

 Malenkis shifted forward, then pounced at the Timelord. The Doctor sidestepped just enough to grab the other man’s arm as he passed, and turned him around with the intention to drive him towards the ground. Malenkis instead shoved the Doctor away with his other arm, and smiled to his opponent.

 “Man of few words,” the Doctor remarked. “What school of combat do you prescribe to?”

 Malenkis came at him again, this time catching the Doctor off-guard with a massive burst of speed, and catching him in the stomach with his shoulder, holding him tight, and lifting him up off his feet. The Doctor brought his fists down on the other man’s back. It took another heavy strike to get back down to the ground.

 Malenkis straightened back up with an uppercut that caught the Doctor’s chin and sent him reeling. He took the opportunity to tackle the Doctor to the ground, and straddle his middle. The Doctor brought his arms up in time to block the punches to his face. They weren’t heavy strikes, not wanting to cause any actual damage, but he still didn’t want to take any to his face.

 The Doctor tuned out Sarah’s cry of concern. He brought his legs up and around to push the other man away with his feet. Malenkis rolled backwards off of him, but was on him again in a couple of seconds.

 This time the Doctor managed to roll them over so he was on top, and served a few light blows of his own against the blocking forearms.

 The fight went on for another minute. Sarah had to really control her urges to vocally spur the Doctor on and not protest every time the tables turned on him. She couldn’t tell if either man was clearly winning, which she only hoped was a good thing. At the very least, the Timelord was holding his own against the clearly trained fighter with his loose brawling style. She did take a moment to appreciate the difference in his fighting style compared to the previous Doctor’s.

 “That’s enough,” Javo called out as the Doctor and Malenkis pushed up to their hands and knees facing each other. He clapped, and Leva joined in.

 “Very nice,” the woman commented. “I’ll think you’ll do quite well at this.”

 Malenkis stood, and extended his hand to the Doctor. The Doctor took it, pulled himself up to his feet, and shook the hand. Malenkis then turned to his employers.

 “You may go. Thank you,” Leva dismissed. Her attention then went to Sarah as she considered, “Who should we have test you?”

 “No.”

 Everyone focused back on the Doctor, who was breathing only a touch heavier than normal.

 “No,” the Doctor repeated. “If you want me to be one of your fighters, very well. But, I’ll only willingly do so if Sarah is kept safe from doing the same.”

 Sarah opened her mouth, though she wasn’t sure what she was going to say. She appreciated his attempt to keep her safe from harm, but also didn’t want him agreeing to any harm himself on her behalf. A sharp glance from the Doctor had her closing her mouth.

 The Doctor raised his brow. “Is that not agreeable? You want my servitude, you have it, as long as you keep Sarah out of fighting in the arena.”

 “You’re not in the best position to dictate terms to us,” Leva said, a small laugh at the end of her statement.

 “Perhaps not,” the Doctor shrugged. “But I believe it’s only fair. I’m a more capable fighter than she is, and probably more entertaining for your audience. You don’t need her in this.”

 Javo and Leva went a distance away to discuss the option.

 Sarah rushed to the Doctor’s side, and checked his face and neck over for any swelling or bruising. “I’m alright,” he quietly assured.

 “You don’t have to do that,” she said just as quietly.

 “Why not? If I can get only one of us to be their dancing monkey, that only serves in our favor.”

 “Yeah… but doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

 “Neither do I, but it is the next best step I can think of at the moment.”

 Sarah shook her head in resignation. He was right, and she couldn’t think of a better idea at the moment. “Alright, your way it is.”

 “Thanks for the confidence.”

 Javo and Leva returned. The woman said, “You’re right, we don’t necessarily need both of you in the arena.”

 Sarah once again did not like how the couple looked at them both, eye roving up and down their bodies. She suddenly somehow felt exposed in the grey tanktop and denim trousers under their gaze, even though it made no sense to feel that way.

 “You would be a favourite, Sarah, with your looks and fiery spirit,” Javo commented. “But we can let that go. You’ll be support for arena functions. Doctor, how proficient are you with melee weaponry?”

 “Oh, I‘ve dabbled on the odd occasion.”

 “Good. Some fights do involve those. Non-lethal versions, of course.”

 “Of course,” the Doctor grinned.

 “You’ll be expected in this training courtyard tomorrow morning so we can get a better grasp of your abilities and get you more prepared for the matches. Until then, good day.”

 Only when the pair had left did the Doctor let out a long relieved breath. Then he strode over to one of the benches along the courtyard’s edge and sat. He glanced up to Sarah with a small smile. “So, think I can handle being a gladiator of sorts?”

 “Don’t really have a choice, do we?” Sarah replied lightly.

 “Oh, come now, that’s not the confidence I was hoping for.”

 Sarah chuckled. “Quite a career change. But since you’re oh-so-good at so many other things… why not this, too?”

 “That’s the spirit.”


	4. Chapter 4

 Sarah smiled slightly as the Doctor entered the apartment almost half an hour after her workday had ended. “Is this the most amount of purposeful exercise you’ve had?” she commented of the past two days.

 The Doctor shrugged. “Anything new from your end?”

 Sarah shook her head. “I’m still just doing basic assistant stuff. Which… I suppose is better than getting beat up…”

 “I meant anything new to report?” The Doctor retrieved a pack of sliced meat and one of mixed vegetables and took out a pan to cook them.

 Not for the first time, Sarah softly smiled at the domesticity on display. While it was certainly common on the Tardis, living in a flat with proper jobs, if she could call being a gladiator a proper job, put it in a different light. If only they weren’t doing so against their will. Maybe someday, when they were ready to settle down on Earth… Then she shook her head and frowned to end that train of thought. “I haven’t found any loopholes to get us out of this mess. Not that I’m given much opportunity to go off on my own to do any investigating.”

 The Doctor looked unconcerned and not at all disappointed. “I’m sure you’ll find something we can use.”

 Sarah couldn’t help the little smile at the Timelord’s unwavering faith in her. “I’m certainly not going to give up.”

 The Doctor said over the sound of the sizzling meat in the pan, “Take care. We don’t need you getting into trouble by going too far.”

 “That goes double for you. We don’t need you getting beat to a pulp.” Sarah immediately grimaced at the mental image that brought.

 “Oh, Sarah… when have you ever known me to disappoint?”

 Sarah sighed and shook her head. She stood on tiptoe to kiss him.

 After they had eaten dinner, the Doctor then told Sarah, “I’ll be fighting tomorrow.”

 “That soon?” She knew there was a show tomorrow, of course, with helping to prepare for it today, but she hadn’t known the list of fighters scheduled. “But you’ve only been training for two days.”

 “I’ve always been an overachiever.”

 Sarah sighed at the man’s flippancy, and wondered if he was going to be scheduled for a real fight in every twice-weekly show. She’d seen some of the fighters around, and couldn’t help but to worry about the Doctor against them. He usually managed to physically fight people off when he needed to, but this was different. Granted, this wasn’t a life-or-death situation, but he could still get hurt. More than likely would. She’d been hoping they wouldn’t force him to fight for at least a couple of weeks. More time to get out of this.

 The Doctor took the woman’s hand. “I’ll be alright.”

 Sarah breathed in through her nose, and didn’t voice her worry. He knew she was anxious, and saying so wouldn’t do much to relieve them. She’d just have to try to keep it down until tomorrow was over.

 ******

 “You have a different duty right now,” the person who had been training Sarah on her job said less than thirty minutes before the Doctor was scheduled to fight.

 Sarah was confused, but didn’t question as she was led to where the fighters under Javo and Leva’s employ were waiting for their matches.

 “It is custom for a fighter’s partner to see them off before the fight.”

 “When you say partner, how do you mean?”

 “Romantic partner. Barring that, a family member or close friend is allowed to take that place.”

 “I see,” Sarah nodded.

 “You are also to adorn him, and you will be shown to a special place for partners to watch.”

 The door slid open, and Sarah was ushered inside. She turned to ask what was meant by ‘adorning him,’ but the trainer had already turned away to continue his own duties. The door slid open again a couple seconds later, to a man dressed as a civilian also being shown in by another arena staff member.

 Not quite sure what to do after he politely greeted her, Sarah watched him as he glanced around the room before making a beeline to Malenkis, who he greeted with a kiss. Then she shook her head and looked around for the Doctor.

 She spotted him a moment later, scowling at nothing specific that she could see, and hurried to him. His expression changed when he saw her, and he smiled.

 “I was told to expect you,” the Timelord greeted.

 “It is nice to see you beforehand,” Sarah said, squeezing his bare upper arms. She looked over his attire, which consisted of a black tanktop and fur-trimmed trousers and boots. She wasn’t going to remark on how good she thought it looked on him. “What was that face you made earlier about?”

 “Hm?”

 “You were scowling. Anything in particular, other than not wanting to do this?”

 “Nothing for you to worry about.”

 “How about you let me be the judge of that?” She huffed as the Doctor half-smiled and shook his head. “Fine, keep it to yourself.” She took another look around the room, and now saw what had been meant by adorning the Doctor. Malenkis and all the other fighters whose partners had arrived were standing as said partners were dipping their fingers in blue paint and drawing markings on the fighters’ bodies.

 “Quite an… intimate little custom,” Sarah remarked, turning back to the Timelord. Then he took her hand and pulled her over to the nearest pot of paint. “Alright, alright, I can do it myself,” Sarah said as the Doctor dipped her fingers in.

 The Doctor grinned and let go of her hand. Sarah looked at her blue fingers, then at the man, and pursed her lips as she considered what to do.

 Cheekily, Sarah reached up and made a stripe down the bridge of the Doctor’s nose. He commented, “I suppose that’s a good start. Or even a finish. I don’t think there’s a required minimum.”

 Sarah held her index and middle fingers together to paint a stripe across his nose and down his cheeks to his jaw.

 “I’m not sure this is the time to indulge your artistic side.”

 “Hush, I’m working.”

 The Doctor waited until Sarah stepped back after she had done a stripe down his forehead to connect to the one on his nose before he took her hands and said, “I have an idea.” He lowered her palms into the paint, took them out, and held them to his chest over his hearts.

 “Does that have any artistic meaning?” Sarah inquired with a little smirk when the Doctor removed her hands to reveal blue handprints on the black fabric.

 The Timelord leaned in close to say, “How about… a message that no one better try to take them from you?”

 Sarah nodded. “I can’t disagree with that.” She put her hands exactly over them, and went on her tiptoes. The Doctor took the cue to lean his head down enough for their foreheads to touch.

 “I know it isn’t you anymore, but don’t be afraid to break out the Venusian Aikido to avoid getting hurt,” she advised.

 The Doctor’s hands settled on the woman’s shoulders. “Try not to worry so much.”

 Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes before giving him a good luck kiss. An announcement sounded for the partners to head to their seating. They pulled apart, and the Doctor chuckled and Sarah felt a wetness on her forehead and nose.

 “Oh, I forgot,” Sarah softly laughed at the feeling of paint on her face, matching the Doctor’s. She washed her hands in the basin next to the paint, but kept the blue on her face. Before she turned to leave, she said, “Please, I really don’t want to see you get beat up out there.”

 “I’ll do my best to avoid that, for both our sakes,” the Doctor assured.

 Sarah’s smile dropped as she followed the others out to their seating. Despite the Doctor’s assurance, she couldn’t stop herself from worrying about this. Nothing he could say was going to stop that.

 They were all led to a viewing box that allowed a perfect close view of the arena, and Sarah sat in the second row. 

 “I guess we’ll know which one is yours,” the woman beside her remarked.

 Sarah smiled, and brought her thumb to her mouth nervously. There were still a few minutes to go, and Sarah could hear the general din of the crowd. She tried not to look out at the audience that filled the entire arena.

 Sarah noticed the table of food and drinks along the back wall, and got up more to give her anxiety a physical outlet. She grabbed a cup and plate, filling them with a sparkling fruit drink and grilled meats and vegetables and bread. She was hungry, and wasn’t going to let her nervousness make her forget to eat.

 A horn sounded a few minutes later, and Sarah discarded the mostly-empty plate and refilled the cup before going back to her seat.

 She tuned out the announcer greeting the audience and so on. She did pay attention to the first fight, trying to enjoy herself. Might as well, since she was here. She didn’t mind fighting sports, but she had never made it a point to actually watch any on Earth. The fact that the Doctor had been forced into this only served to sour her perception of it.

 The Doctor came out for the third match, and Sarah couldn’t help the little snort that when had been introduced as the ‘Gallifreyan Lion.’ Maybe that had been what had annoyed him earlier. Still, her fingers tightened around her again-refilled cup. She almost closed her eyes and didn’t want to watch in case this went very badly for him, but took a deep breath and was determined to support him.

 The Doctor looked focused, but glanced up to the partner viewing box and caught Sarah’s stare, and winked.

 “Begin!” prompted the announcer.


	5. Chapter 5

 Sarah quickly left the partner viewing box as the Doctor left the field a few minutes later. He had lost, though thankfully his opponent, someone not employed by Leva and Javo, hadn’t beaten him badly.

 She hurried back to the area they had been before the fight, and found him sitting in a medical exam chair. She knew it was protocol and didn’t necessarily mean anything was seriously wrong. Although the Timelord was holding his nose with a damp red-stained cloth. She could also see the start of a blossoming bruise on his jaw.

 “I hope you weren’t too anxious?” the Doctor said to her in greeting.

 “When am I not when it comes to you?” Sarah replied lightly as she reached his side. “Seriously, you’re alright? Nothing broken or anything?”

 The Doctor shrugged and shook his head. Then he grimaced as the motion made a short flare of pain in his nose. “It’s not that bad, I promise.”

 The corners of Sarah’s mouth tugged upwards, and she folded her arms. “You’d say that anyway,” she quietly said.

 The Doctor’s soft smile was half-hidden by the cloth. He reached out to her forearm with his free hand. “I think he went easy on me, perhaps on account of me being new. I certainly wasn’t going to argue the point with him.”

 Sarah’s mouth tightened. “That did the opposite of comforting me. Makes me worried about the future. How much you could actually get hurt.” If this opponent had gone easy on him and still beat him, what about future opponents who wouldn’t give him the same courtesy? How badly would he lose to them?

 The Doctor sighed. “How about we focus more on the present instead?”

 “Sorry.” Sarah stepped in close to kiss the top of the man’s head.

 One of the medical staff came over and had the Doctor perform a few simple tasks to make certain he didn’t have a concussion. Then she checked that the Doctor wasn’t hiding any other potentially serious injuries before clearing him.

 “See? All good,” the Doctor said to Sarah as he got out of the chair. He checked the cloth and gingerly felt his nose. “The blood flow has even slowed.”

 Sarah forced a small smile. “Yes… this time,” she muttered.

 The Doctor put his arm around her as they walked over to the post-match area to wait for the end of the day. He discarded the cloth on the way. They sat on the plush cushions against a softly-curtained wall. The Doctor kept his arm around Sarah, and she leaned her head back against his shoulder.

 “Perhaps we’ll find a way to escape before your fears come true,” the Doctor whispered.

 “That thought is more comforting,” Sarah whispered back, tilting her head up to kiss the Doctor’s cheek. Then she chuckled, “We’ve still got the paint on.”

 The Doctor shrugged. “It’s rather becoming on you.”

 “Don’t expect me to keep it as a new fashion statement.”

 “Perhaps an occasional statement?” the Doctor teased.

 Sarah let out a long breath, appreciating the subject and light tone. “Maybe, but I don’t know if this shade of blue is quite my colour. Mind you, I haven’t seen myself in a mirror, so I guess that’s your judgment.”

 The Doctor turned Sarah so he could see her face, and nodded. “Oh… very becoming.”

 Sarah made a sound of approval, and studied his nose and jaw. His nose looked perfectly fine, to her relief. There wasn’t anything that could be done about the bruise except to let it heal on its own over the next few days.

 The Doctor kissed Sarah’s forehead, and relaxed again.

 A few minutes later, Sarah softly smiled when she felt the Doctor doze off. She didn’t feel tired at all, and was going to stay completely alert while he got some rest. She couldn’t help the protective instinct over him, and her thoughts turned to just how protective she was going to feel the longer this went on.

 She shook her head, and decided to try to take the Doctor’s advice. Focus more on the present and what they could do now. She laid her hand over his on his lap and gently nuzzled the top of her head up against his chin.

 Over the next hour or so, Sarah watched as the other fighters returned from their matches and relaxed. The Doctor woke up near the end of the matches when Malenkis came over to silently ask if he was alright. Sarah was glad to see they had an ally of sorts, or at the very least a person concerned for the Doctor’s welfare.

 The Doctor nodded, and straightened up to stretch his back and arms.

 “Enjoy your nap?” Sarah asked.

 The Doctor grunted his response, and glanced around at the other fighters and some of their partners. And when Javo and Leva came in after it was all done, he tuned out their platitudes on how well every performed, whether they won or lost. Sarah paid full attention to it.

 Then everyone was dismissed and told they could enjoy the provided dinner and go home, whether home was in the tower or somewhere else.

 Yet again, when Leva’s gaze fell on Sarah, she felt inexplicably uncomfortable at the woman’s, and Javo’s when he did it, expression. It annoyed her, because she couldn’t figure it out, what it was, what it meant. All she knew was that it made her uneasy, and she wasn’t going to directly ask what it was about. As much as she wanted to know, maybe she wouldn’t like the answer.

 The Doctor grabbed a few strips of meat from the food table, and took Sarah’s hand to go back to the tower, not wanting to stay any more than he had to.

 ********

  The Doctor was scheduled to fight at the next event a few days later. The bruise on his jaw had barely just faded. Sarah wondered he was going to fight every time, so the pair who essentially owned them would get the most out of him before their servitude time expired.

 Sarah, again having taken some of the paint on the Doctor’s face for her own, studied the general crowd as she sat in the partner viewing box.

 She froze for a second when she spotted a familiar face. The male medic who had taken care of them at the hospital. Yezan, Sarah remembered. She supposed that explained his interest and helpful explanation when they had said where they were to serve. Then she wondered if he had attended four days ago. Maybe, if there were some way to talk to him, perhaps he could help… She cleared away that thought. He hadn’t been able to do anything at the hospital, and it could get him into trouble if he did want to help. She didn’t want to risk that.

 Yezan didn’t seem to notice her, so Sarah continued looking around before the matches began. She got a feel of excitement from the crowd, but not a bloodthirsty one, which she was glad to notice. They didn’t necessarily want the fighters to get seriously hurt for their amusement. She didn’t have to worry about them calling for the Doctor’s blood.

 She again waited anxiously for the Doctor’s match when the announcer came out to start everything. She tried to tamp down on it, now that she knew and had experience with how everything worked.

 She was grateful that the Doctor came out for the second match, so that her nerves didn’t have the chance to get too bad in anticipation. He didn’t face the same person as before. Unfortunately, this opponent looked like he was hitting a little harder.

 Sarah audibly winced as a punch from the opponent to the Doctor’s cheek left the Doctor’s gaze glassy for a short moment. Enough time for another blow to get through his weakened defenses.

 The Doctor staggered back, shaking his head. His opponent didn’t let up, and rushed in with a knee to the Timelord’s midsection. He followed up when the Doctor bent over to catch his breath with an elbow to the back of the neck. The Doctor fell forward to his hands and knees, and was knocked the rest of the way to the ground by a kick down onto his back.

 Sarah breathed in relief that the match ended in another loss for the Doctor soon after, so she wouldn’t have to watch him get beat up any more.

 Once again, she hurried out of the viewing box to check on him. He’d still had that faraway look as he had left the arena.

 He was already being tested by a medic when she arrived, and she was quiet until the medic said he was fine. She remarked, “At least you’re not bleeding this time.”

 The Doctor rubbed at his cheek then the back of his neck. “I suppose that is a comfort.”

 Sarah waited until they were relaxing to inform him, “I saw a familiar friendly face out there.”

 “Oh?”

 “Yezan, from the hospital.”

 “Spectator?”

 Sarah nodded.

 “Nice to know someone out there.”

 “I wondered if maybe he could help us, if I could somehow talk to him,” Sarah quietly said. “But I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

 The Doctor took a moment to think on the idea, then agreed,” Yes… let’s look for other possibilities.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Non-con elements

 “You wanted to see me?” Sarah said as she entered Javo and Leva’s office. Only the woman was present at the desk.

 Leva looked up from her computer with a smile. “Yes. Close the door.”

 Sarah did so, and hoped that this was a good thing. Maybe they had gotten second thoughts on keeping them as indentured servants. Though, if that were the case, shouldn’t the Doctor also be here to hear any news regarding that?

 Sarah made to sit in the chair, but stopped when Leva got up and approached her. Sarah noticed the twitch of the other woman’s antennae only a split-second before she suddenly pounced.

 Sarah winced as she found herself nearly slammed back against the wall, by firm hands on her shoulder and wrist. She made an attempt to fight back, swinging a punch, but the hand on her shoulder quickly intercepted it. Her wrist joined the other pinned to the wall to the side of her head. She went for a kick to Leva’s knee, but the other woman closed the already short distance between them, making the kick only a weak glancing blow.

 There was now barely a few inches between their bodies, and Sarah had to look up to Leva’s face, only now realizing how much taller than her the alien woman was.

 “Let me go!” Sarah protested. At Leva’s simple shake of the head, Sarah tried, “I’m going to listen to whatever you have to tell me, so you might as well just let me sit.”

 Leva laughed. “What I have to say doesn’t require simply sitting.”

 Sarah tried to push back, but Leva had all the leverage. She really did not like where this could go, especially when the laugh turned into the expression that made her feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

 Sarah couldn’t help the tiny sound that escaped from her throat as Leva moved in even closer, their torsos so very close to touching.

 “Do I frighten you?”

 “No.” Sarah set her jaw and held Leva’s stare.

 “Good, I wouldn’t want quite that.” Leva’s purple tongue darted out just past her lips.

 Sarah swallowed, and again tried to wriggle her wrists from the stronger woman’s grip. “What do you want then? Because, I don’t know anything that would need to us to be this close. Do you conduct all your staff meetings like this?” Sarah refused to cower. She’d been on the receiving end of enough physical power plays to let this one rattle her too much, even with the undertones coming to light the more Leva’s eyes were on her.

 “Such beauty, in your defiance, and in your vulnerability…” Leva purred.

 Sarah clenched her teeth, trying to figure out what to do.

 “Your partner also has it. So very intriguing…”

 Sarah concluded she wasn’t going to be successful talking her way out of Leva’s grasp, and attempted to kick her again. This time it connected on the other woman’s shin, though not as hard as Sarah would’ve liked. Leva’s response was swift, transferring both of Sarah’s wrists to one hand, slamming them back against the wall, and wrenching them above Sarah’s head. Her other hand wrapped around Sarah’s chin and jaw, and forced her face up to look at her.

 “You really do not want to do that again,” Leva warned.

 “Or what?” Sarah challenged.

 Leva laughed, “I do enjoy your fiery spirit.”

 “That doesn’t answer the-“ Sarah’s eyes flew wide as Leva roughly claimed her lips with hers. She couldn’t move her head away, not with Leva’s firm grip on her chin. She couldn’t use her hands to push her away. The stomp down onto Leva’s foot resulted in a knee to her abdomen, winding her.

 There was nothing she could do but endure the unwanted hard kiss. Her hands above her head clenched into fists. Then, when the taller woman pulled back to breathe, Sarah took a shaky breath and growled, “Let me go.” She glared, definitely not wanting to back down now. She couldn’t now.

 “What I want is you.” Leva’s gaze turned predatory. “Such a beautiful woman.” Her fingers along Sarah’s jaw caressed the skin.

 Sarah shivered, and closed her eyes for a second. Her fisted hands shook, sporadically drumming against the wall. “Let me go.” At the grinning shaking head, Sarah opened her mouth again. Leva cut off the attempted cry for help with another hard kiss.

 Sarah arched her back off the wall, anything to get any leverage over the larger and stronger person. But Leva’s body easily pushed her fully back against the wall. Sarah’s eyes squeezed shut, but she was unable to mentally get away from any of this.

 It was only a kiss, she tried to reason. But that didn’t work either, because she knew what could come after this, and that scared her. Sarah tried to bring her knee up as some kind of offense, but Leva’s legs squeezed together to catch it before it could cause any pain.

 “Quite a little fighter,” Leva commented, sliding her nose against Sarah’s as she pulled back. “Even when I tell you not to, and am holding you down, you can’t help it.”

 Sarah wasn’t going to justify that with a response, but Leva didn’t seem to have any problem with it at all. In fact, she seemed to like her disobedience and continued defiance.

 Leva released her jaw, and Sarah opened her mouth to stretch the soreness from it. Her shoulders were also starting to ache. “What-“ Sarah coughed. “What would Javo-“

 “What would he think?” Leva chuckled. “You think I’m the only one who wants you? And not just you. Javo and I actually discussed who should approach you today.”

 Both of them wanted her like this? She shivered at the thought of both of them holding her down like this. She bit her lip as Leva swooped in for another kiss. She couldn’t help the squeak as the woman’s free hand roughly caressed the side of her neck and went down to her collarbone. Leva nipped at Sarah’s bottom lip as she pulled away this time.

 “Stop, please… Leva, please stop.”

 “Oh, there’s the begging, the vulnerability under the spirit.”

 Sarah breathed heavily through her nose. Leva pressed in again, this time nuzzling her nose across the smaller woman’s cheek and up to her hair. The hand on Sarah’s collarbone slowly trailed down, and Sarah couldn’t quite bite back the tiny sob as he came to rest on her breast.

 “What’s the matter, Sarah? Do you not like women as well as men?”

 What was the matter? What kind of question was that? Sarah swallowed heavily. She stammered, “I d-don’t quite go that w-way, but it’s more… more that I … I-I don’t want this.” Her eyes squeezed closed again. “Please, stop, let me go…”

 Leva’s answer came in the form of darting her tongue out to the corner of Sarah’s mouth. Sarah firmly pressed her lips together, but that didn’t stop the desperate whine from escaping through them as the hand more firmly grasped Sarah’s breast. Leva’s leg moved forward and between Sarah’s. Sarah tried to stop it, but Leva wrenched upwards on her wrists, intensifying the ache in them and her shoulders. Then there was nothing she could do to stop the thigh rubbing at the crotch of her trousers.

 Sarah again tried to mentally be anywhere but here, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t imagine the Doctor’s hands and mouth on her, couldn’t go anywhere unrelated, and a fear filled her of what might happen next.

 She couldn’t hold in another whine as Leva slipped her head between the side of Sarah’s head and her shoulder to gain access to her neck. “Please stop, please stop, please stop…” Sarah repeated over and over.

 Leva didn’t, kissing and licking Sarah’s neck on one side, then the other. Her hand moved down Sarah’s side, then back up again to settle on her ribcage. She didn’t stop moving her leg between Sarah’s. 

 The whines turned into short sobs that she tried so very hard to keep in. She couldn’t move, couldn’t fight back, could only stand here and endure it, and hope that it didn’t become worse.

 Sarah wasn’t sure what her breaking point was, but surely it would be soon before she began to break down crying. Or maybe she completely freak out and react violently and make this worse for herself. She didn’t know which it would be.

 Then, Leva suddenly stopped, and pulled away. She withdrew her wandering hand and her leg. “No…” she whispered into Sarah’s ear. Her smile was predatory as her face came into Sarah’s view. “Not quite like this.”

 Sarah couldn’t take any more of this. Her entire body shook. She couldn’t even ask what Leva meant.

 “Just remember that we can make your life, and the Doctor’s life, difficult here.” Leva finally let go of Sarah’s wrists. “You’re dismissed, from the rest of your duties today as well. I’m sure you’ll be too… distracted to perform them.” She stepped back enough for Sarah to escape.

 Sarah didn’t linger a second longer, and bolted out the door. She didn’t look back as it closed behind her, and ran. She didn’t stop until she was in the hopeful safety of their apartment.


	7. Chapter 7

 Sarah barely reacted to the opening of the front door, huddled on the couch with her knees drawn up and arms wrapped around them. Her hair, still slightly damp from the shower she had taken in an attempt to feel clean of Leva’s kissing and touching, clung to the side of her face.

 “Hello, Sarah,” the Doctor greeted.

 Sarah didn’t answer, instead continuing to stare ahead at the half-curtained window.

 The Doctor quickly got the sense something was wrong, and went into the living room. “Sarah?” he repeated softly.

 Sarah flinched, and looked up to the Timelord as he came around the sofa. “Oh, hi… I was just…” She took a shuddering breath and bit her lip.

 The Doctor saw the faraway expression on the woman’s face before she tried to change it. “Is something wrong?”

 “Other than being indentured servants at a gladiator arena?” Sarah tried to joke.

 “Other than that, yes.” The Doctor sat beside her. “Are you alright?”

 “It’s nothing.” But Sarah’s voice broke, betraying her attempt to brush off what had happened only less than two hours ago. At the Doctor’s fixed stare, she amended, “Alright, it’s… it’s not nothing.” She let go of her legs and looked at the palms of her hands, still feeling the now-faded imprint of her nails against them as they had been clenched into tight fists under Leva’s attention.

 The Doctor tentatively placed a hand on Sarah’s knee in encouragement. Sarah brought her fingers up to her mouth as she tried to think everything through in words. The Timelord didn’t mention the barely-visible small faint bruising on one of Sarah’s wrists.

 A minute later, Sarah got up, and faced away from the Doctor. “Leva summoned me to her office earlier.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Good news is that now I know why she and Javo sometimes made me feel uncomfortable. Bad news is that she made the reason very clear.”

 Sarah paused for a very long moment, and the Doctor prompted, “Sarah?” He didn’t get up, realizing she needed a little space.

 “Yes? Sorry, um… It’s…” She blew out a breath of frustration. “I’d… she…” she paused again to try to collect her thoughts. “Before I’d even gotten a chance to sit, she… pounced on me, pinned me against the wall.” Sarah unconsciously rubbed at her sorer wrist.

 When Sarah again fell quiet, the Doctor asked, “She threatened you?”

 Sarah made a nervous humming sound. “Not quite.” She closed her eyes. “Leva… her and Javo want me.”

 “Want you?” The Doctor was confused. “In what way?”

 Sarah couldn’t say it directly. “Have me. Have my… my body…”

 “Your body?” the Doctor asked.

 Sarah winced, turned to him, and nodded.

 “What did she do?”

 “Held me against the wall, kissed, touched me…”

 Then it all clicked in the Doctor’s mind. “Sexually?” His eyes widened and his expression hardened at the idea. He leaned forward, not quite getting up.

 Sarah bit down hard on her bottom lip, her eyes wide and shining. “I begged her to stop, to let me go, but she didn’t…” She clenched her teeth to try to stop a tiny sob. It escaped through anyway. She clenched her hands into fists, determined not to start crying again. “She wouldn’t stop.” She took a deep breath, which came out shuddered. “Sh-she did, but on… but on her terms.”

 The Doctor stood, and slowly approached Sarah.

 “I-I tried to fight back, I really did!”

 The Doctor reached for Sarah’s trembling hands, and gently closed them between his. “I know you would have. I know you did.”

 “But she was too strong, and I couldn’t…” Sarah shuddered as the sensation of being forced against the wall and groped came back. “I couldn’t… I-I’m sorry, I…”

 “No need to apologize. You certainly don’t need to.”

 Sarah pulled her hands away. “I know, but…” She shook her head. “She made it extremely clear what she wanted, and I was so afraid that she would… she would… completely force herself on me.” She couldn’t stop a few tears from falling. “I was so afraid. She… she could’ve done anything to me, and I… I would’ve been helpless to stop her.” She covered her lower face with her hands.

 The Doctor let out a long slow breath, and his expression became determined. There was no mistaking the quiet fury underneath. “I think she and I should have a little chat.”

 “No!” Sarah cried out. “Don’t do that!” She grabbed his arm before he could even think to turn to leave.

 “Sarah?”

 “They could make our lives difficult here. I don’t want to make it worse,” Sarah explained. She let go when she felt safe that he wouldn’t leave, and became lost in her thoughts again. “I can’t imagine if Javo had also been there…” She cleared her throat. “She liked it when I fought back, and liked it when I begged her to stop…”

 “You’re here, with me now,” the Doctor said to pull her back from the memories. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you.” He gently reached for her hands again.

 Sarah took them, and simply stood there for another moment. Then she said, “I… Doctor, I don’t really know what to think, what to do. All I know is that I’m scared of being alone with one of them again.”

 “Understandable,” the Doctor said softly.

 “I’m scared of being helpless again, if they do it again and take it… take it further.”

 The Doctor let the silence linger as he thought. Sarah was right, in that he couldn’t take any form of revenge for Leva’s actions, not right now, no matter how much he wanted to. There wasn’t anything he could do to prevent it from having happened. The most good he could do now was comfort and reassure Sarah. Tenderly, he asked, “What do you need?”

 “I don’t… I don’t know…” Sarah bit her lip and looked down at their hands. Several seconds passed before she raised her gaze to his soft, concerned, and yet still intense blue one. “Kiss me?” she requested. “Please?”

 “Kiss you? You’re certain?”

 Sarah nodded, and swallowed. “I need… I need to feel…” She couldn’t find the right word, and let the thought trail away. She quickly added, “Only if you want to.”

 The Doctor smiled warmly. “Alright.” Slowly, he took his hands from hers to settled them on her shoulders. Tenderly, he moved them up to caress her neck. His thumb stoked over the side of her mouth before he moved in to kiss her softly.

 “I love you,” he whispered before their lips made contact. He felt Sarah’s twitchy smile against his mouth.

 The kiss didn’t last long before he pulled away. “Like that?”

 Sarah nodded, and brought her hands up to curl around his wrists. She moved in for another gentle kiss.

 Without breaking the contact, the Doctor moved backwards to sit on the sofa, and pulled Sarah down to straddle his lap. Sarah’s hands tightly gripped his forearms, needing something solid and familiar to hold onto.

 “Tell me I’m yours?” Sarah requested as they pulled apart, and the Doctor hated hearing that uncertainty born from fear in her voice. A fear that someone else had put there when they had hurt her.

 “You’re mine,” the Doctor said, staring into her hazel eyes. “Just as I am yours.”

 Sarah sniffled and nodded. Then she moved in and buried her face into the Timelord’s neck. The Doctor raised his hand and protectively placed it on her head.

 They sat like that for several minutes, until Sarah pulled back, and tentatively requested, “Take me to bed?”

 The Doctor silently asked for confirmation that that was what she wanted, and at her nod, gripped the back of one of her thighs and used his other hand to push himself up. Sarah stayed stable in the precarious hold by squeezing her knees against his waist and looping her arms around his neck.

 “I need you,” Sarah said as he carried her into the bedroom.

 The Doctor laid her on the bed. “I’m here.” He kissed her forehead. “I’m here…”

 

 The Doctor pulled the blanket up over their naked bodies and kissed Sarah’s temple. Sarah grabbed his arm and snuggled closer to him, almost like she was afraid he would leave.

 He made a soothing noise to reassure her, then asked, “How do you feel?”

 “Loved,” Sarah said into the man’s chest. “I… I needed to feel that.”

 “Good.” The Doctor rubbed his hand up and down the woman’s back.

 Sarah didn’t want to worry him more, but couldn’t stop herself from raising her head and saying, “I don’t think this’ll be the end of it, until we get out of here.” Then she brought to mind how the incident had ended, and shivered. “When she stopped, she said ‘No, not like this.’ I don’t know what that means, what else she wants…”

 The Doctor kissed Sarah’s forehead. “Do you think you can sleep?”

 “I don’t know if I even want to. I’m afraid I’ll dream about it.”

 “I’ll be right here with you.”

 Sarah’s mouth formed into a little smile of appreciation. “Okay, I’ll try.” She settled down onto her pillow. Very quietly, she said, “I’m sorry.”

 “Don’t,” the Doctor protested just as quietly. “It’s not your fault.” He put his arm around her and cuddled her close. His hand rested protectively on the back of her neck.

 He would allow himself to feel more angry and upset tomorrow. Right now, Sarah needed his comfort and love.


	8. Chapter 8

 The Doctor tried his best to focus on the new day, including fight training with Malenkis. But it was proving to be quite difficult to push his concern for Sarah out of his mind to focus well on anything. She certainly hadn’t been eager to wake up and do her duties, not that she normally was anyway. But today… today she’d been quietly anxious about the possibility of running into Leva or Javo.

 The Doctor had done what he could to reassure her, but they’d both known the words couldn’t do anything to help her. They’d had to separate, which meant the Doctor couldn’t protect her if anything like that happened again. He’d brushed off her concerns about anything similar happening to him. She didn’t need to worry about his well-being in addition to her own.

 He caught sight of Leva out of the corner of his eye, walking around the training courtyard, and turned his attention to her. She raised her hand in a tiny wave, and smirked. He kept his gaze on her as she kept on walking.

 He couldn’t have been distracted for more than a few seconds, but he cried out and fell to the ground, clutching at his ear, which had been struck by a fist that he knew had been easy to block.

 Malenkis crouched down next to the Timelord, his brow raised slightly. “You are distracted.” It wasn’t a question.

 The Doctor considered the other man for several seconds, disoriented by the light ringing in his ear.

 “I apologize. I did not mean to hit so hard.” Malenkis extended his hand, which the Doctor took, and pulled the Timelord to his feet.

 “Not the hardest I’ve been hit,” the Doctor dismissed, though his feet were unsteady enough to be noticed by Malenkis. He let Malenkis lead him over to a bench, and sat. Malenkis stayed standing, and turned to see what the Doctor was trying to look at around him.

 Leva was out of sight, having already left the training courtyard, and the Doctor took the appearance as a taunt from her. He looked back up to Malenkis, and said, “Sorry for my lapse in concentration.” He removed his hand from over his ear and shook his head.

 “I noticed when we began.” Malenkis sat next to the Doctor. “Anything I might help with?”

 “You know, I think this might be the most you’ve said to me at one time,” the Doctor joked.

 Malenkis chuckled, then became serious.

 The Doctor pondered how much he should tell the other man. “Don’t think it’s anything you could help with.” He ran a hand through his hair as the ringing in his ear stopped. He did need to know something. “Sarah was… something upset her yesterday,” he said quietly. “Nothing important, but enough to distract me this morning.”

 “As is the way with having a life partner,” Malenkis replied in understanding.

 “Exactly.”

 “Such distractions will do you no favors in the arena,” Malenkis warned.

 “Then its fortunate for me today is only a training day.” The Doctor sighed, and leaned back against the padded back of the bench. He took a moment to think through his coming question. “What do you make of Javo and Leva? I mean… do you think they would ever try to… take advantage of any of us?”

 “Take advantage how?”

 “They’ve already got Sarah and me as indentured servants. Do you think they’d try to press that into forcing us to do worse things?” He couldn’t figure out a way to bring up the assault on Sarah specifically without giving it all away.

 Malenkis took a moment to answer. “I have never had cause to worry about being forced to do things I didn’t want to. Your situation may be different, being indentured servants, but if you mean abusing their power…” He shook his head.

 The Doctor smiled slightly in appreciation. Malenkis sounded sincere in his answer, which was an indication that Leva’s behavior wasn’t a normal thing. Sarah would be both upset to know that she had attracted that kind of attention, and relieved that it didn’t seem like a thing that happened to others. Still, both he and Sarah would want to know exactly why she had attracted their attention.

 

 The Doctor made it to lunch without his lapse in focus causing him any other hard hits, though he suspected Malenkis was going easier on him because of it. He didn’t even make it to the common area to get food when Leva approached him in an empty hallway.

 “You…” the Doctor lowly said, not at all hiding his disdain for the woman.

 Leva smirked, and positioned herself in front of him, not quite backing him against the wall. “I didn’t mean to… distract you earlier.” 

 The Doctor didn’t even make an effort to justify that lie. “Yesterday, why did you hurt Sarah?” he practically growled.

 “Oh please, I didn’t hurt her.” Leva didn’t seem at all put off by his tone.

 “Why did you do what you did to her? Kiss her and touch her, while she asked you to stop.”

 “Now that… that’s more accurate.” Leva took one step forward to close the distance between them. “I was simply communicating what I wanted.”

 The Doctor’s nostrils flared and he shook his head. “That’s not good enough.”

 Leva shrugged. “You asked why. I answered.”

 “You didn’t have to do that to her. If you really wanted to communicate your… desires, you could have simply used words, instead of…” He bared his teeth. “Instead of forcing yourself on her.”

 “I didn’t do much to her.”

 The Doctor’s eyes flashed dangerously as he held back from shouting. Instead, he hissed, “You hurt her!”

 “I didn’t use nearly as much force as I could have. Remember that.”

 The Doctor snorted.

 Leva raised her hand up to walk her first two fingers up the Timelord’s chest. The Doctor considered smacking her hand away, but chose to simply stand there and stare at her.

 Leva’s fingers reached the man’s collarbone before stopping in their tracks. She leaned forward to whisper, “Sarah is very… delightful.”

 The Doctor’s hand clenched at his side. He wanted to do something, say something more, but Sarah’s warning echoed in his mind, and stopped him from saying anything more at all.

 Apparently satisfied, Leva brushed her fingers against the Doctor’s jaw before turning and continuing on her way.

 The Doctor was still for a moment, then whispered to himself, “I’m sorry, Sarah…”

 ********

  “I did a little investigating of my own today, about Leva and Javo,” the Doctor informed after he and Sarah finished eating dinner. He had been relieved to find her not anxiously staring at nothing again this evening. He’d held off on bringing this up until now to not have her worry before and during dinner.

 “About… what she did yesterday?”

 The Timelord nodded. “I asked Malenkis as… sensitively as I could, without detail. He said he hasn’t known them to act in abuses of power.”

 Sarah’s fingers came up to her mouth. “I suppose that’s… that’s good. Except for me, if they’re still… interested.”

 The Doctor inhaled deeply. “I also had a little encounter with Leva.”

 Sarah’s eyes widened, and she took one of the man’s hands. “Did she do anything to you?”

 The Doctor shook his head.

 “Oh good, I thought…” Sarah’s voice trailed away.

 “I did follow your advice and tried not to say anything that could get us into trouble. Even so, I couldn’t let it go without comment.”

 Sarah flashed a watery smile. “I know you wouldn’t.” She nervously looked down. “You still shouldn’t have, I think.”

 The Doctor decided not to argue the point, and asked, “You thought she would do something to me?”

 Sarah pressed her mouth tightly for a second. “I don’t know if I mentioned it last night. I know I didn’t this morning. But she… she implied the same sort of interest in you.” Sarah snorted and shook her head. “She said you have a similar sort of beauty to me, and that I wasn’t the only one they were interested in.”

 “I see.” The Doctor recalled the other woman’s fingers on his chest and jaw. It had only been a fraction of how Leva had touched Sarah, which he felt far more upset about than any interest to himself.

 Sarah chuckled humourlessly. “She’d have a harder time trapping you against a wall, though.”

 “Perhaps.” The Timelord squeezed Sarah’s hand reassuringly. “But if she, and her husband, knows what’s best for them, they’ll let this end here.”

 Sarah’s mouth twitched. “Maybe it’s all just some stupid prank or something.” There was no real belief behind those words. She knew whatever this was was genuine.

 Sarah pulled the Doctor into a soft kiss to ward off her rising anxiety for what could happen tomorrow.


	9. Chapter 9

 Sarah flinched and quickly spun around at the familiar and unwelcome voice behind her.

 “Have you figured it out?” Leva asked, foregoing looking at Sarah directly to inspect her fingernails.

 Sarah immediately scrambled around to the other side of the table she was working on signage at to put any sort of obstacle between herself and the other woman. Leva wasn’t going to pin her against a wall so easily this time. Unfortunately it meant it was another obstacle other than Leva to the door, but it was still something. She left one hand on the table, perhaps ready to try to push it towards Leva if necessary. “Figured what out?”

 Leva moved her gaze up, her expression predatory. Her antennae twitched in the air. “What I meant, when I let you go.”

 “Oh, that?” Sarah swallowed nervously. “You weren’t exactly- I wasn’t exactly thinking about your… your words.”

 Leva looked almost disappointed. “Come now, Sarah. You’re an intelligent woman. I’m sure you can figure it out.”

 “Or you could stop this… whatever game this is you’re playing and leave me alone.” Sarah set her jaw, refusing to back down.

 “Now where would be the fun in that? Besides, I wouldn’t exactly call this a game.”

 “Then what is it?” One of Sarah’s hands closed into a fist in frustration.

 Leva shrugged. “A desire.”

 “Yeah, I got that part loud and clear when you…” Sarah took a breath. “Is this about the Doctor?”

 Leva shook her head. “You are… intriguing enough on your own.”

 In another situation, Sarah would’ve taken that as a compliment. “Okay… then what? What about me-“

 “Makes me want you?”

 “Yes, that.” Sarah’s clenched hand shook slightly, and she hoped Leva hadn’t noticed. She would probably take it as a sign of weakness or strength, and another thing to like.

 “Again, where would be the fun in telling you everything?”

 “I’m not here for fun, in case you forgot,” Sarah retorted. “I’m here- the Doctor and I are here- because you couldn’t accept a thank you for helping us get help after that accident. No, you had to take us for your own gain, make him fight, and-“

 “None of that is up for discussion. It is done. All legally, I might remind you.”

 Sarah clenched her teeth. “And how you’re treating me? Is that legal?”

 Leva put her hands on the table in leaned in, which made Sarah move back. She simply smiled, showing her teeth.

 Sarah couldn’t hide the involuntary shudder. “Would it… would it be too much to ask that you let me get back to work?”

 Leva’s hand came down on Sarah’s, and Sarah’s eyes widened when she couldn’t pull hers away. She inhaled through her nose, then warned, “I will scream bloody murder if you don’t let go of my hand right now.”

 Leva kept her smile as she insisted, “No, you won’t.” Still, she raised her hand a couple of seconds after.

 Sarah snatched her hand back, and tried not to let it show how much that little amount of physical contact had shaken her. She knew she failed at the slight pull at the corners of Leva’s mouth.

 “Not like this,” Leva whispered seductively. “That’s what I said. I could have gone further, done more to you, but I decided not to, not quite in that way.”

 “In what way, then?” Sarah demanded, fighting to keep her voice under control.

 Leva’s tongue darted out for a split-second. “It’s interesting, isn’t it?”

 “What is?” Sarah had lost any remaining patience she’d had for this.

 “I’ll give you a hint.” Leva leaned in closer across the table. “I’m only willing to wait so long.”

 And with that, she straightened and left the workroom. Sarah stared after her, for several seconds after she had disappeared from view. Then she shook her head, and tried to focus back on her task.

 ********

 Sarah couldn’t stop thinking about it, even after working for two more hours. She knew she wouldn’t be able to stop until she had figured out what Leva had meant, especially now that there was some sort of arbitrary time limit.

 And then it hit her, and she completely froze. Leva had stopped herself from fully forcing herself onto Sarah. Why? They were in her private office with the door closed, so no one would’ve seen. If Sarah screaming out for help or in pain had been the issue, well, she was certain Leva could’ve stopped anyone from hearing.

 No, it was something else. Something else she wanted from Sarah… her consent?

 That realization threw Sarah for a loop. Leva was perfectly fine forcibly groping and kissing her, but anything more was a step too far? Not that Sarah was complaining that that had stopped Leva, but…

 Sarah shook her head, feeling nauseous and angry. Leva actually wanted her to want this, to say she wanted it. It hadn’t been enough to take what she wanted two days ago. No, she wanted to take that and have Sarah say she liked it, say she wanted more.

 And even then, that wouldn’t stop her for long. She wanted Sarah, and she would be fine having her with or without her consent. Sarah feared that would also be true for Javo, if it was true that he also wanted her. She also feared that he might not care to wait for her to say yes to him, whenever he made his desires known.

 She didn’t know what to do, if she had figured this out correctly. Unfortunately, there was only one way to find out if she had, and she really did not want to be alone with Leva again. She certainly wasn’t going to seek her out to ask.

 Sarah clenched her teeth as she thought of her options. If Leva expected her to tell her she wanted more… attention, she had another thing coming. Which meant that Sarah would be waiting it out until Leva became impatient and forced it, which… didn’t sound any better at all. It sounded worse. She was caught between two difficult outcomes. How long was Leva willing to wait?

 Sarah decided that, at the very least, she wasn’t going to tell the Doctor this yet. Not until she knew this was all true. She didn’t want to have him worry over it, not yet. The last thing either of them needed was for him to get beaten badly because he was distracted by her situation.

 She sank down to the floor and put her head in her hands. There were so many implications and possibilities she hadn’t even thought of yet.

 What was she supposed to do?

 ********

 “Sarah?”

 “Hm?” Sarah looked up from her plate to the Doctor.

 “Pushing your breakfast around doesn’t constitute as eating it,” he pointed out. Then he stated, “You didn’t eat much last night, either.”

 “Not very hungry, I suppose.” She tried to flash a reassuring smile at him, but it flickered before falling completely.

 The Timelord extended his hand on the table to rest next to hers. Sarah laid her fingers over his and stared at their hands. “I just…” The Doctor scooted in a little closer concern obvious on his face. “I’m okay, I promise,” Sarah assured. “Just not very hungry.”

 The Doctor didn’t push her to eat or tell him what exactly was bothering her, for which she was grateful. She told him, “You definitely need to eat, though. Can’t have you fighting matches today on an empty stomach.”

 The Doctor hummed in contemplation. “Might be a good way to protest.”

 “Maybe. But I don’t want you getting hurt doing it.” Sarah then sighed, and pushed her breakfast aside. She lifted the Doctor’s hand to her mouth. “I love you,” she said quietly.

 The Doctor moved in to press a kiss to Sarah’s forehead. Then he lightened the mood by stealing a strip of sausage from her plate with a teasing grin. She laughed lightly and swooped in to bite the end of it from between his fingers.


	10. Chapter 10

 Sarah let out a long sigh as she wrung out the wet cloth. Then she wiped at the blood flowing from the deep cut on the Doctor’s brow. Some blue paint came away on it as well. His hair got in the way again, and she used her other hand to hold it back. 

 “I’m sure it’s not that bad,” the Doctor remarked.

Sarah grimaced, but admitted after clearing away more of the blood, “It’s not.” She knew things always looked worse while they were actively bleeding. She glanced around the arena medical area for a few seconds for a medic. But he’d already been checked out by one and had been determined to not need professional attention. “But I’d rather this not turn into something worse.”

 The Doctor shrugged. “A little blood is nothing to worry about. It’s to be expected, really. And I doubt they’ll allow it to get infected.”

 “More than a little blood,” Sarah commented, now pressing the damp cloth to the cut to put pressure on it. “That man had quite a nasty sword. You were lucky to not have been cut up any more than this.” She shivered. “Makes me worry about what the next person will have, now that you’ve been upgraded to weapons bouts. I wish they’d told me.” She couldn’t help but wonder if this was part of Leva’s implied threat to make things harder for them here if Sarah didn’t do what she wanted, if Sarah didn’t give the other woman her consent to…  She certainly wouldn’t put it past her, putting the Doctor in more dangerous situations to coerce her into it.

 The Doctor placed his hand on Sarah’s hip. “Take it as it comes. We won’t get out of this by worrying about upcoming rounds and losing focus.”

 “I suppose not. Still doesn’t make seeing this-“ Sarah gestured at the Doctor’s face. “Any better.”

 “You don’t like seeing my face?” the Doctor joked. At the exasperated expression from Sarah, he said, “Then I’ll try even harder to prevent this next time.” He tried to raise himself enough from the chair to kiss Sarah in reassurance, but she shook her head.

 Only when she finally got the blood to stop and had taped a bandage over the wound did she bend down for that kiss.

 *********

 “Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?” the Doctor prompted as they went to bed.

 Sarah sighed, and looked at the bandage on his head. “That,” she answered in an attempt to deflect the question.

 “I’m certain that doesn’t please you, but it’s more than that.” The Timelord took her hands between his. “You haven’t been eating or sleeping as much as you should be the past couple days. Those are observable signs of anxiety.” He scooted closer to her on the bed. “It’s about more than how Leva… confronted you.”

 “You can quite maddening, you know that?” Sarah said with no actual annoyance in her tone.

 “I’ve been told its part of my charm,” the Doctor replied with a grin.

 “Says who?” Sarah teased back.

“I believe you have before.” He let her laugh lightly before he turned serious again. “Why don’t you want to tell me?”

 The switch was so quick that Sarah couldn’t think of an answer for several seconds. Then she shrugged. “You’ve got enough to worry about.” Her eyes flickered to the bandage again. “Like not getting made mincemeat of. I know you’re not the first to be concerned about your own wellbeing, but I can’t have you being distracted and getting hurt.”

 “Something else happened with her,” the Doctor concluded.

 Sarah stared down at the blanket between them, and nodded.

 The Doctor sighed, and raised his hand to the woman’s shoulder. He slid it up to the side of her neck to gently caress.

 Sarah smiled softly at the touch, and she raised her hand to loosely wrap around the man’s forearm. “It’s just…” Sarah took a few breaths. “She’s now made it clear what else she wanted, why she stopped before she… before she went any further.”

 The Doctor closed his eyes briefly. “What she wants is already unacceptable. What more is there?”

 Sarah cleared her throat, and couldn’t answer for a long moment. “’Not like this.’ She wants… she wants my consent.”

 The Doctor tilted his head. “Consent? To her attentions?” It wasn’t a question, but offense at the very idea.

 “Yeah. She wants me to say that I want it.”

 “Out of the question, all of this.”

 “I’d… like to think so, too.”

 “What do you mean, you’d like to?”

 “She and Javo can make our lives here harder. Maybe suddenly throwing you in a weapons match was the start of that.”

 The Doctor instantly caught on to what she was implying. “No, Sarah.”

 Sarah finally looked up to him. “That’s the dilemma though, isn’t it.”

 “I can take care of myself,” the Doctor assured. “You don’t have to do anything to protect me.”

 “It’s not just you. Our lives harder, not only yours.” Sarah knew what it sounded like, and she clarified, “I mean, I’m not going to. But then she said she wouldn’t wait too long, and then she’d… force me.”

 The Timelord’s hand on Sarah’s neck stilled. “What? She-“

 “So really,” Sarah interrupted before the Doctor could start ranting. “The choice is that I give her my consent and she hurts me, or I don’t and she still hurts me, possibly even more for not giving my consent.” She said it louder and more forcefully than she meant to, and added more quietly, “I don’t like it any more than you do, believe me.”

 The Doctor was quiet for a long moment as he thought. “Well, this means we have to figure a way out of this mess before she gets impatient.”

 “If we haven’t found a way yet, what makes you think we will before then?” Sarah couldn’t help but ask, beginning to feel hopeless about the situation.

 “Now, Sarah, don’t lose hope.” His hand moved up to caress her cheek encouragingly. “Perhaps something will change that gives us the opportunity.”

 “And what do we do until then?”

 “Keep looking on our own, of course.”

 “And what about Javo? He’s interested, too.” Sarah shivered. “I don’t know anything about how impatient he might get or how he would… would…” She stared down again. She was not going to work herself into an upset state. “Maybe he’s worse than her.”

 The Doctor interlaced his fingers between hers and scooted closer to kiss the top of her head.

 Sarah squeezed the Doctor’s hand in appreciation, even though the gesture didn’t really make her feel any better. She swallowed heavily. “What if they get impatient sooner rather than later?” She looked up to the Timelord’s face. “I-I couldn’t defend myself against Leva. She’s too strong. I can’t imagine being trapped by Javo or both of them.” She shook her head. “If only we could stick together. What am I supposed to do?”

 “For now, try not to be alone,” the Doctor suggested. He had already taught her some self-defense moves, both in his previous incarnation and this one, but he wondered how effective those would be against the pair. He would have a better chance warding them off than she would, and that fact alone made him wish they had come after him in their desires.

 “What are you thinking?” Sarah asked when the Timelord was quiet for a minute.

 “Other options and alternatives.” At her questioning brow raise, he answered, “Nothing solid yet.”

 With a long exhale, Sarah fell against him and tucked her head under his chin. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back.

 “I’ll do whatever I can to prevent them hurting you again.”

 Sarah knew it would be pointless to tell him to only focus on his own part in all this. He hadn’t been doing so even when he didn’t know these details, and he definitely wouldn’t now. Instead, she said, “I know you will.” Just like she wanted to prevent him being hurt in his part, or if they directly went after him.

 They stayed in that position for a good while, her taking comfort in the steady beat of his hearts, and him taking comfort in her warmth.

 ********

 The next day, before his scheduled training, the Doctor made the calculated decision to confront Javo in the couple’s office. He wasn’t going to stand for them hurting Sarah physically and emotionally over their disturbing desires.


	11. Chapter 11

 “This needs to stop,” the Doctor stated as soon as he was let inside.

 “What needs to stop?” Javo asked.

 The Doctor was not in any mood to play along with the feigned innocence. “Sarah!” he hissed, putting his hands on the desk and leaning towards the other man, teeth just about bared.

 Javo kept calm, seemingly unconcerned with the angry Timelord. “What about her?”

 “Leave her alone. You and Leva.”

 “Oh, I see,” Javo smiled, baring his own teeth in a predatory manner. “She doesn’t like the attention Leva has been giving her?”

 “Attention?” the Doctor spat in disbelief at the dismissal. “Is that what you call it?”

 “What else would you call it?”

 “Harassment, for one. Thought that is an understatement. Especially since I know what it’s leading up to.” He tried a different track. “What would you do if someone gave your wife the same sort of attention? Against her will and wishes? Not that I would ever stoop that low for any reason, but someone.”

 “That is irrelevant.” Javo’s little smile didn’t drop in the slightest.

 “It’s not. The situations would be very comparable, the same.” the Doctor countered.

 “Not quite, Doctor.”

 The Timelord lost his patience and slammed his hands down on the desk. He growled, “Whatever this is about, end it. You might not be as quick to defend your mate, but I will defend mine.”

 “Oh, of that I have no doubt.”

 The Doctor tilted his head in confusion. “Do you want such a reaction from me?”

 Javo shrugged vaguely. “I think you and Sarah are certainly interesting.”

 “I’ve heard that about us. But what exactly does that mean in this instance?” He leaned further into Javo’s space, hoping to appear more intimidating.

 Javo chuckled, then looked the Timelord up and down, not at all hiding his mental undressing of the other man. “I’m sure you’ve figured out what that means in this instance.”

 The Doctor’s mouth opened a few times, then he gave up and turned to leave before the other man could begin to get physical with him. 

 “Don’t be a stranger. I’d advise against that, for both your sakes,” Javo called out after him.

 ********

 Sarah couldn’t assure she be with someone at all times of the day. She hadn’t exactly been thinking of making friends in the first place, and she was left by herself enough of the time for her to worry about being caught by Leva again. And even if she had been with someone else, Leva could simply dismiss the other people to be alone with Sarah. As such, she was practically looking over her shoulders at all times. If this whole debacle didn’t end soon, the anxiety would surely drive her mad.

 It was like the pair who ran this place were waiting for opportunities. Sarah spun at Javo’s voice. She was somehow more scared of him, since she had no idea how forward he would be about what he might want. She took a little solace in that at least she was in a common workroom, where someone could easily walk in at any time.

 That reassurance quickly left when the door slid closed behind him and he punched in a code in the keypad to lock it. Sarah took the initiative and demanded, “What do you want?” She wasn’t going to appear weak.

 Javo simply smiled at her for a long moment. She tried not to let it show how much it unnerved her. She knew that had to be part of why he was doing it. Eventually, he finally broke a little of the tension.

 “I had a conversation with the Doctor not long ago.”

 Of course he had confronted Javo, despite her not wanting him to. She had figured it would be fruitless, and could only get them into deeper trouble. Not that she could blame him. She would’ve done the same thing in his position.

 From the expression on the man’s face, it certainly had been fruitless. Sarah prompted, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible, “And?”

 “He wants to protect you from our attentions.”

 One word in that statement confirmed what Sarah had feared. “Our? As in both of you?”

 Javo’s grin widened just the tiniest bit.

 “Don’t you dare touch me!” Sarah hissed as the man took a step towards her.

 “I wasn’t going to. Not yet.”

 Not a single muscle in Sarah’s body relaxed. “Of course he’d want to protect me. Your wife pinned me against a wall and… and… forced herself on me to kiss me and touch me and… And she wants more of that- more than that from me.”

 “Oh, I know. She took great pleasure in telling me exactly what she did and how you reacted.”

 Sarah shivered at the predatory gaze. She forced herself to not look down and away from it. “And you enjoyed it, too. Just so…” She shook her head.

 “Yes, that’s similar to what the Doctor said.”

 “You deserve whatever he said to you.” Sarah said, not quite sure what else to do except keep the man talking. Maybe if they kept doing that, he wouldn’t do anything physical.

 Javo chuckled. “I also advised him, and I’ll pass the same on to you. Don’t be strangers.”

 “So, what? Like Leva, you’re also saying you want me, want us, to say we want your harassment?”

 “He used that word, as well.”

 “Are you even listening to me?” Sarah snorted. “And if we don’t give in and say yes to what you want? Leva said she won’t wait too long for me to consent to her. What about you?”

 “Now why would I tell you my exact intentions and take some of the fun out of it?”

 “None of it is fun from our perspective, but you’re obviously not concerned about that.” At the lack of verbal response, she continued. “And what now? The longer I don’t consent, the more you place the Doctor in actual danger in order to get me to do it? And then it gets to the point where Leva takes what she wants from me anyway?”

 Javo’s smile showed his teeth more. “I believe we’ll get what we want in the end.”

 Sarah’s hand clenched and shook at her side. “Why us?”

 “We simply like you. Do we need more of a reason than that? Be assured that somehow, we will get what we want, or at least part of it.” He took a step back. “Now, I have other business to attend to.”

 Sarah didn’t relax until a long moment after Javo had left.

 They needed a way out of here, fast.

  ********

 This time, it was Javo who distracted the Doctor during training. But unlike Leva simply walking past his field of vision, Javo actually sat on the sidelines. It could’ve simply been to watch over the several training fighters, but the Doctor felt the man’s eyes on him nearly constantly.

 He set his jaw and did his best to not let Javo’s presence unnerve him.


	12. Chapter 12

 The Doctor ducked and blocked the oncoming strike of the sword with his small shield. Like before, he tuned out the arena crowd watching them. He didn’t need to be distracted by them and get hurt unnecessarily. He already had enough to distract him, with worrying over Sarah’s well-being.

 But right now, he knew Javo and Leva weren’t giving her attention, because they were in watching the match from their private viewing box, and Sarah was in the one for fighter partners. He had visually made certain of that as he had come out.

 The Timelord spun as he straightened back up, catching the other man across the cheek with the pommel of his sword. He purposely tried not to use the blade, even though it wasn’t sharp enough to leave any serious injury. His opponent didn’t extend the same courtesy.

 The other fighter, from a different group of gladiators, swooped low with his sword, and carried the motion through into his shield as the Doctor jumped over the attempted strike. The shield caught the Doctor’s shin as he came down, resulting in him falling onto his side.

 He heard the cheer of the crowd as his cheek hit the dirt. He let go of his sword to push himself back up, and barely managed to turn into a sitting position and raise his shield in time as his opponent brought his sword down. “You don’t have to hit so hard,” he quietly remarked at the jolt that travelled up his arm.

 The other fighter didn’t seem to care, and quickly did another downward strike as hard as the previous one. The Doctor had to shift the shield left to properly block it again. His other hand reached out for his discarded sword, but the other man kicked it away.

 The Doctor started to protest the action, but quickly shut his mouth and scrambled backwards as the fighter swung upward from a low position. The bottom of the Timelord’s shield lifted, but still kept him protected enough.

 “You’re the serious type, I see,” the Doctor remarked before rolling to the side to avoid another strike.

 The opponent came at him hard and fast, barely giving the Doctor time to block and dodge, and no time to let him get back to his feet. He scrambled backwards and sideways, trying to maneuver around to grab his sword from the ground while trying his best not to get hit.

 The Doctor gritted his teeth as the man’s sword caught him across the bicep as he made a dive for his own sword. He came up short, and snatched his hand back as the flat part of the other’s blade came down. The Doctor quickly rolled into his opponent’s legs, taking him down.

 That gave the Doctor the opportunity he needed to scramble up to his hands and knees and grab his sword. He turned, rising to his feet. Just in time to catch for the other fighter to tackle him back down to the ground, driving the air from his lungs with the impact.

 The Doctor beat on the man’s upper back with the hilt of his sword until he got up enough for the Timelord to kick him away. The Doctor jumped to his feet, shield up and sword ready. His opponent raised his shield and held his sword out to the side. They had reached a stalemate.

 The Doctor didn’t pay any attention to the cheers and boos from the crowd. He barely felt the blood trickling down his bare arm. All his focus was on the man across from him. The black eyes gave him no tell.

 The Doctor moved first, feigning right before ducking left. The other man predicted the feint and met him, their swords clashing together. The Doctor raised his shield, the top of it striking under his opponent’s chin and sending him staggering backwards.

 The Timelord pressed the advantage, lunging at him. He turned to deliver an elbow across the man’s face, stunning him further and just long enough to kick out one of his legs from under him. The fighter fell down to one knee. The Doctor sent his sword spinning away with another strike from his shield and held the point of his weapon to the other’s face.

 The fighter took three breaths through his nose, then let his shield drop to the ground. The Doctor smiled widely as the announcer declared him the winner. The Timelord transferred his sword to his other hand, and extended the now empty one to his opponent. The other man took it, and the Doctor helped him to his feet. They bowed heads, and the opponent turned, picked up his weapons, and went to his entranceway.

 The Doctor raised his sword and spun in a circle as a small celebration of victory, winking in Sarah’s direction. Then he went back to his entranceway.

 Sarah soon joined him in the back area, after he had been seen by the medic, and immediately took his arm to examine it. “Just a cut this time, and not a serious one.”

 “Nothing at all to worry about,” the Doctor assured before pressing a kiss to her temple. His other arm did ache from the force of his opponent slamming his sword down against his shield over and over, but he didn’t need to mention it to her.

 “You did look good out there, other than when he knocked your sword away and wailed on you.”

 “And how about now?” the Doctor asked with a teasing grin.

 “Well, you didn’t get beat up too badly, so I suppose, yeah.”

 The Doctor tenderly wiped his thumb over the blue paint on Sarah’s brow. Then he cupped her face in his hands and rested his forehead against hers.

 Unfortunately, due to the Doctor being the second-to-last match, the moment was interrupted by the two people they least wanted to see. They turned their heads as Javo said, “Such a beautiful loving couple.”

 The Doctor immediately pushed Sarah half-behind him.

 “Relax,” Leva said in response.

 The pair didn’t do so, even though they knew the other couple wouldn’t do anything to them here. They stared at Javo and Leva as they strode past them to address all their fighters for the customary end-of-day debrief about the matches.

  The Doctor grabbed a fruit off the food table, and ate it as he kept his gaze on the pair, until everyone was dismissed. He was half-expecting Javo and Leva to follow them to corner them somewhere, but they were safe from any attention on the way back to their apartment.

 After changing out of his fighter clothes and washing the paint off his face, the Doctor sank down onto the couch. Sarah stayed standing, and shuddered.

 “I hate that. The expecting them to do something every time I see one of them, and even when I don’t see them,” she said.

 “I don’t like it, either,” the Doctor quietly agreed. He took her hand and gently tugged her toward him.

 Sarah stepped between the man’s knees. “It just makes me… makes me always on edge.”

 “I know.” The Timelord placed his other hand on Sarah’s waist. “You don’t need to be on edge now.”

 “What if they decide to come in here and… and do what they want?”

 The Doctor gave a tiny smile. “If they do, we’ll deal with it. We don’t need to be anxious until we know they might do that.”

 Sarah sighed and shook her head. “Sorry, it’s…”

 The Doctor nodded, and pulled her in again. She sat on his lap and settled against him, her arms around him and his around her. She kissed his jaw, then pressed her face into the side of his neck and closed her eyes.

 ********

 “Maybe I should try to talk with that medic, Yezan, the next fight day. If I see him.” Sarah brought up over breakfast. “I spotted him yesterday.” She sighed. “Not that I can think of anything he might be able to do for us at this stage.”

 “Worth a try, since we can’t seem to find any other opportunities on our own.”

 “I just really don’t want him to get into trouble.”

 “Let him tell us if it would or not,” the Doctor advised.

 “Still, if all this is legal and accepted…”

 “It’s worth a try, anyway, Sarah.”

 “I suppose so. I definitely don’t want you going up against someone with no mercy. Or get caught in Leva and Javo’s attention again.”

 “I’ll take the first one over the second,” the Doctor remarked.

 Sarah grimaced. “I’d rather not choose between the two.” What a choice that would be, to watch someone horribly beat the man she loved, or to submit to Leva’s attention. But, she remembered that it might come to that.

 “In the meantime, until you see Yevan again, keep looking for opportunities.”

 “Believe me, I wasn’t going to stop.”


	13. Chapter 13

 The next morning, the Doctor gave Sarah a kiss goodbye. He had a scheduled day off of training and such, but unfortunately he couldn’t spend it with Sarah, as much as he wanted to be around her all day to protect her from any unwanted attention.

 He turned to the computer unit at the sound it made, and woke the display. He groaned at the message. “Summoning me now, is she?” he muttered.

 He considered his options. He could ignore the message and not meet Leva, but that would likely have consequences. He could meet Leva, knowing it was more than likely a trap, but it would at least be one he would be prepared for. The known trap had to be better than any unknown consequences, especially since those consequences could potentially involve Sarah.

 No, it was better to do this when it only involved him. Best for everyone. With the decision made, he finished dressing and headed to the specified apartment.

 He walked slower than usual, to give himself time to think. He considered knocking her unconscious somehow, then finding Sarah and making a run for it, but dispelled that thought. If he failed, there would again be consequences.

 The door to the vacant apartment slid open at his presence. “You could have done this in your office,” he called out in greeting, and stepped almost into the living room area.

 “I considered that,” Leva answered, eyeing the Timelord up and down. “I also considered your apartment. But that seemed a touch too…”

 “Intrusive?” the Doctor supplied. “I agree.” He was silently grateful that the relative safety there wasn’t broken. At least not yet. “I will tell you again. Stop this.”

 “Or what?” Leva challenged.

 The Doctor glared at the woman, eyes steely and intense.

 “That’s hardly helping your case.”

 The Doctor spun to face Javo behind him. “Ah, I was wondering when you’d grace us with your presence.”

 “We like that defiant fighting spirit,” Javo continued.

 “So I’ve gathered,” the Timelord sighed. He wasn’t certain who to keep his eyes on in terms of which of them was the bigger threat. Perhaps he could more easily handle if Leva jumped him, but her husband would join her, making it impossible either way. He held his hands out from his sides and turned to Leva, who seemed to be the larger threat to Sarah’s well-being. “You’re getting your pound of flesh, so to speak, from us by having me fight. The rest of this really isn’t nec-“

 The Doctor grunted as Javo tackled him from the side, bringing them both crashing down onto the couch. The alien ended up on top, almost perfectly straddling the Doctor’s waist. He caught the Doctor’s hands as they came up to push him off, and held them down against the armrest over the Doctor’s head. The Doctor allowed it, not wanting Leva to help her husband hold him down.

 The Doctor could feel that Javo’s strength could match his own, and there was certainly no doubt in their ability to easily overpower Sarah. He wondered if they really was any way she could physically stop one of them from taking what they wanted.

 “There truly is something about watching you train and fight that makes you even more alluring than you already were,” Javo said, looking down at the Timelord, his aroused grin showing his teeth.

 “Shame we can’t watch Sarah do that as well,” Leva sighed with disappointment.

 The Doctor looked to the woman. “And you won’t.”

 “You forget, Doctor, that we do have all the power here,” Javo reminded. He made the statement clear by tightening his grip on the Doctor’s wrists. “Sarah doesn’t fight because we say so.”

 “Don’t you dare go back on that,” the Doctor hissed. He clenched his teeth as the man on him bent over low.

 A second later, the Doctor pushed back as Javo kissed him hard. There was only so much he was going to allow, and this crossed the line. But as he had guessed, Javo matched him and keep his hands pinned down above his head. The Doctor kicked out to try to buck him off, and the other man adjusted his position to continue kissing him.

 He stopped kicking to press his legs together at the slightly smaller hand sliding up his knee and thigh. “Stop,” he demanded as Javo pulled away so they could breathe. “Don’t touch me.”

 Leva kneeled beside the men and forcefully turned the Timelord’s face to her. She leaned forward into a rough kiss, and gripped his chin to keep him there. Her other hand trailed up the side of his neck and fisted in the hair over his ear.

 The Doctor exhaled heavily through his nose as Javo moved his wrists to one hand so he could feel down the Doctor’s chest and abdomen with the other. When it reached the bottom of his shirt, the hand went underneath it to slide back up directly against the skin.

 He kicked out again, and tried to headbutt Leva. He barely had a chance to breathe between Leva pulling away and Javo forcefully kissing him again. Leva took one of his hands from Javo to hold it down herself, and her other hand joined her husband’s in roving over his body. The Doctor tried kneeing the man in the back, but Javo was bent too far over.

 “I love what you and Sarah have,” Leva whispered into the Timelord’s ear after another minute of the kissing and groping.

 “Appreciate it… from a distance,” the Doctor nearly spat, his body shivering as her fingers ran up the inside of his thigh. He clenched his legs together again. He failed at rolling over to the floor in an attempt to get away. He closed his eyes, and his thoughts went to Sarah again. How she had felt when Leva had done this to her, made even worse because Sarah hadn’t known what was to happen.

 "That’s enough,” he growled the next time his mouth was free. He tried to pull his wrist from Leva’s grasp, almost got it, but she tightened her grip and pressed her other hand down onto his crotch.

 Leva’s hand was soon replaced by Javo’s, and he squeezed through the trousers.

 “Stop,” the Doctor breathed, shuddering as Leva’s tongue lick up his jaw. “I belong to Sarah and Sarah alone.”

 “And she belongs to you, we know,” Leva purred into the Timelord’s ear.

 “You are such a beautiful loving couple,” Javo agreed.

 “Then leave well enough-” The Doctor swallowed as Javo’s hand pressed harder. “Well enough alone.” The fingers under his shirt scratched lightly across his chest and down his side, stopping at the bottom of his ribcage.

 He couldn’t take lying there any longer as one mouth latched onto the side of his neck, and the other kissed across his collarbone and up to reclaim his lips. He managed to wrench one of his wrists free and used it to push himself over the edge of the couch to the floor. All three fell together in a heap.

 The Doctor got to his hands and knees and scrambled forward. He didn’t get very far before Javo got hold of the back of his shirt with both hands and yanked him to a stop. Then he straddled the middle of the Timelord’s back and roughly grabbed a fistful of hair. The Doctor was about to drop to the floor and try to turn over to get the man off when Leva stepped on his hand and crouched down in front of him. He made a frustrated hissing sound at her.

 “Such spirit,” she remarked with a grin. She tilted her head, her antennae twitching. “Just what we like.”

 He growled in frustration, having played into their hand, giving them more of what they wanted instead of making them back away. But he couldn’t just submit, either. Even if he did, they knew he wasn’t the type to, and would know it was disingenuous. He thought for a second, then said, “Do whatever you like with me, just leave Sarah alone.”

 Javo bent over the Doctor, almost flush against his back, to respond into his ear, “I wonder if Sarah would say the same.”

 The Doctor fisted his hand not under Leva’s foot. “Leave her alone.” He yanked his hand from under the foot. Before he could try to get away again, Leva grabbed the hair at the side of his head and shoved his head back.

 “I’m certain she told you the condition I have with her. It extends to you as well.”

 “Despicable, the pair of you,” the Doctor snorted.

 “Just remember, like with her, we’re only willing to wait so long.”

 The Doctor averted his gaze downward for a moment, then brought it back up. “If I give my consent, you’ll leave Sarah alone?” His desire to protect her overrode any fears for himself.

 Javo chuckled and pulled the Doctor’s hair. “You will not use Sarah as a bargaining piece. We allowed it once. Not again.”

 The Timelord shook with quiet fury as he glared at the woman in front of him.

 Then, both people let go of him and Javo got off. The Doctor shot up to his feet, and stared in stony silence as they mockingly waved at him and left the apartment.

 For several minutes, all he could do was stare straight ahead, not really seeing anything except the terrible imagined images in his mind.


	14. Chapter 14

 Sarah returned to their apartment after her half-day of work, which had thankfully been harassment-free. She half-expected to see one of the offending pair waiting in here for her, but she let out a breath of relief at seeing only the Doctor, making some food on the stove.

 “Hey,” she greeted, placing her hand on his lower back and looking up at his face. She felt him flinch the tiniest bit before he grunted in response. “Doctor? What’s the…” She glanced down to his hands, and noticed the light bruising around his wrists.

 Sarah looked back up to the Timelord’s face, while he continued to stare down at the sizzling pan. “One of… one of them forcefully… confronted you?”

 The Doctor breathed in through his nose and nodded. Then he quietly admitted, “Both of them.”

 “What? Both?” Sarah closed her mouth to prevent herself from pressuring him with more questions, just as he had done for her after Leva had cornered her.

 The Doctor stirred at the contents of the pan. “I think it’s ready. Good timing on my part.”

 “I thought that came naturally to you,” Sarah replied lightly.

 “It does, yes,” the Doctor attempted to say just as lightly, but failed. He turned off the stove and separated the food onto two plates. As they sat at the table, he asked, “Did they bother you?”

 Sarah shook her head.

 “Good. I hoped…”

 “But they did hurt you.”

 The Doctor grimaced, then began to eat in quiet. Sarah followed suit.

 Halfway through the meal, the Doctor tentatively reached out across the small table to place his hand over Sarah’s. “Sarah… I love you,” he stated in a soft tone.

 One corner of Sarah’s mouth lifted. “I know.” She turned her hand over to wrap her fingers around his hand.

 The Doctor squeezed Sarah’s hand briefly, then continued eating. It wasn’t until after they had both finished and he sat on the sofa that he reached out for her again. She stepped between his legs, and he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close, pressing the side of his face into her torso.

 Sarah exhaled and wrapped her arms around his upper back to hold him. “I’m here,” she whispered into his wild curls. He made a tiny moan into her shirt.

 “They… they understand,” the Doctor finally spoke.

 “Understand what?”

 “How much we love each other. Which… only makes them more despicable.”

 Sarah sighed. “It does.” She cleared her throat. “What did they do?”

 “Not any further than Leva did with you, I think.” The Doctor hugged her tighter for a few seconds before letting go and drawing back a little. “Leva sent me a message, not long after you left. To meet her.”

 “She summoned you?”

 The Doctor nodded. “In one of the empty apartments. I considered not going, but decided there would be consequences. So, I walked into the trap.”

 Sarah shuddered. “And both were there?”

 The Doctor nodded, and was quiet for a long moment. “They pinned me down on the sofa. Touched me, kissed me…” He shivered at the memory of their hands and mouths on him. His fingers gripped lightly on Sarah’s waist. “I got out of their grasps, but then they got me on the floor.” He shook his head. “The more important thing is what they said.”

 “What did they say?” Sarah prompted after several seconds passed.

 “Like with you, they want my consent, though they won’t wait too long for it.”

 “Of course…”

 The Doctor decided not to tell her the rest of the conversation, knowing it would only upset her further to know he had offered himself in exchange for her safety. He wasn’t sure how she would react to knowing that offer had been denied. Javo’s question of if Sarah would make the same offer for him echoed in his mind.

 “What a mess, huh?” Sarah said.

 The Doctor hummed his agreement. Then he closed his eyes and held her close again. He smiled slightly at the repeated, “I’m here,” to the top of his head.

 “Whatever they do,” he mumbled. “We have each other.”

 ********

 “Hey!” Sarah called out to the seats on her way to the partner viewing box. The arena was starting to fill in preparation for the matches, and she had caught sight of just the man she wanted to talk to. “Yevan!”

 The man in question turned from chatting with someone to the partner box walkway. He tilted his head at Sarah, then smiled at her. Sarah nodded, and beckoned for him to come to her. He didn’t seem to be at all hesitant in leaving his seat to come to the waist-high barrier that separated the partner area from the public area.

 “I like that you match him… Sarah, yes?” Yevan vaguely gestured to his face.

 “Thanks. It was an accident the first time,” Sarah responded. Then she leaned over the barrier. “And thanks for coming over.”

 “My pleasure. It’s good to see you well.”

 Sarah half-smiled, then became serious. She quieted her voice. “Well, this isn’t really a social call.”

 Yevan frowned slightly, then said, “First, may I extend the Doctor my compliments? He is quite good.”

 Sarah exhaled through her nose. “Yes, I’m sure he’ll be…”

 Yevan winced. “I apologize. It slipped my mind that you are not exactly here willingly.”

 “It’s about that.” She took a deep breath. “I know you said in the hospital that this is legal and all, but… we want out.”

 The man glanced away for a second, and his expression turned regretful.

 “We just want to go home.”

 “I understand, Sarah. I do. But I know of no way to get out of debt servitude.”

 “There has to be some way. Some legal rule or loophole.” Sarah sighed. “I get if you can’t help, but maybe you can think of or find something that we couldn’t know about.”

 “I don’t know what I could do for you, past healing you. I can’t think of anything now.”

 “Maybe not now, but later? Next time you’re here? It’s just… we can’t… we can’t be here much longer.”

 “How long is the servitude for?”

 “Six months. Far too long for… for all this.” Sarah flinched at the loud sound that the event was to begin in a few minutes. “We’re not asking you to commit to helping us escape or anything, only to think if there’s anything that could help.” She could see the conflict on his face, and she knew it really wasn’t fair to him. She deflated a little. “If you think it’ll get you into trouble, we understand. We’re not trying to force you into anything.”

 Yevan glanced between Sarah and the settling audience a few times. Then he fixed his gaze on her and said, “Perhaps. I’ll think on it.”

 “Thanks.”

 “Good luck,” Yevan responded before returning to his seat.

 Sarah quickly got to her seat in the partner box before the first match began. She hoped anyone who had seen her talking with Yevan wouldn’t care or think it worthy to tell Javo and Leva.

 ********

  Sarah tugged upward on the bottom of the Doctor’s black blue-handprinted tanktop, and they broke apart from the kiss only long enough for him to pull it off over his head. His hands resettled on her waist, his thumbs slipping into the waistband of her trousers.

 They eventually got to the shower, and stepped in under the warm water. The Doctor lowered his forehead to Sarah’s, and the blue paint on their faces began to run down their bodies.

 “My Doctor,” Sarah verbally claimed, her fingertips digging into the damp skin of the Timelord’s back.

 The Doctor caressed the woman’s neck with both hands. “My Sarah.”

 They kissed again, sharing the silent sentiment that no one and nothing was going to hurt the other.


	15. Chapter 15

 “You’re not to perform your regular duties today,” Javo’s personal assistant said to Sarah as he approached her.

 “Then what am I supposed to do today?” Sarah asked in a challenging tone. She knew he didn’t deserve it, not really, but she was in no mood for any of their twisted games. She had gotten to the end of that rope very quickly.

 “Follow me.” The man didn’t seem offended. Javo had probably told him she wouldn’t be particularly cordial.

 He led her to the training courtyard. She furrowed her brow for a second in confusion. If they wanted her to watch the Doctor train, that wasn’t so bad at all. Unless they were going to directly hurt him. But they wouldn’t do that in such a public setting, would they? After all, they did have an apparently great reputation to uphold.

 But the Doctor wasn’t even here among the few other fighters sparring and practicing against dummies. Sarah wasn’t sure if she wanted him to be here or not. If he wasn’t, that meant they had no terrible plan for him. But if he was, she’d have more protection.

 Sarah decided she could handle this, no matter what it was, on her own. She wasn’t going to be selfish and want the Doctor in harm’s or harassment’s way.

 Javo and Leva came a couple minutes later, another woman with them. Sarah recognized her as one of their other fighters. Shana. She looked quite Human, with her light tan skin and short black hair. Her dark eyes were calm, cold, and calculating, with her mouth almost always in a smirk every time Sarah had seen her. Sarah knew she was a good fighter. She got the job done, often in a more brutal method than others. It never went over the line for her to be reprimanded for it, but a shiver went through Sarah at the very idea of being face-to-face with her in the arena.

 “We want to assess you,” Javo stated after dismissing the other people in the courtyard.

 “What? Now hold on just a minute,” Sarah protested. “I’m not supposed to be fighting at all. That was your deal with the Doctor.”

 “Yes, it was,” Leva agreed.

 “He’d willingly fight if you left me out of it,” Sarah reminded.

 “We are aware of the terms. This is simply an assessment,” Javo pointed out.

 “Yeah, an assessment for me to fight,” Sarah countered.

 “Go easy on her, Shana,” Leva instructed.

 “Easy on me? You really shouldn’t go back on this. The Doctor will be very angry if you do.” Sarah took a few steps back as Shana took the same amount forward.

 “We can handle him if that happens,” Leva replied with a half-grin.

 “That’s a ‘when,’ not an ‘if,’” Sarah stated. “I can promise you that.” That did nothing at all to dissuade them.

 “Begin,” Javo commanded.

 Shana lunged forward, quickly catching Sarah across the face with a light jab. It still hurt, of course, and Sarah hissed through the pain. She barely brought her hands up in time to protect her face from the second strike. But Shana instantly followed that with a kick hooking the back of Sarah’s knee and palm-striking her chest at the same time, sending her falling backwards.

 Sarah winced, and reminded, “They said to go easy on me.”

 “I am,” Shana responded, staring down at Sarah.

 Sarah pushed herself up to her feet. She looked to Javo and Leva. “I’m not very good, as you can see,” she said. “There’s really no point in-“

 “Continue,” Leva instructed.

 Several minutes later, Sarah, aching with the certainty of bruises in several places by tomorrow morning, picked herself off the floor again. She wiped at her nose with the back of her hand, and it came away with a thin line of blood. Shana stepped back at the command from her employers.

 “You do share some certain movements the Doctor has,” Leva stated “No surprise there.”

 Sarah didn’t respond, though she did take some personal pride in getting a few hits on Shana. But she still knew the bout had been mostly one-sided. Her strategy had consisted almost entirely of trying to stay out of the way.

 “Shana, you are dismissed,” Javo said. “And please tell them the courtyard is open again.”

 Shana smiled, then smirked to Sarah before she left.

 “May I go?” Sarah inquired. “Or do you want to ‘assess’ me more?”

 Javo and Leva looked to each other before she answered, “You’ve given us enough. You are dismissed.”

 “Oh, how very gracious,” Sarah responded sarcastically. She hurried to the entrance, and waited for the stream of fighters to come in. At the break, she went out, and nearly bumped into the Doctor coming in.

 The Timelord froze. “Sarah?” His brow furrowed at the still-trickling blood from the woman’s nose. He looked over her head into the training room, and spotted the presumably offending pair, his expression hardening. He mentally put the pieces together, and took a step forward.

 Sarah put a hand on the Doctor’s chest, and said, “No.” She wiped at her nose with her other hand. “Don’t.”

 “Did they make you fight someone?” the Doctor asked.

 Sarah sensed that dangerous undertone. “Doesn’t matter right now.”

 “They did,” the Timelord stated. “And it does.”

 “Leave it,” Sarah insisted. “Not now.”

 The Doctor looked back up, and clenched his fist at his side at Javo’s taunting grin. He stepped forward again but Sarah still stopped him, adding her other hand to his chest.

 “I’m alright,” she assured. “Hey, look at me.” When he did so, she repeated, “I’m alright. Okay? Just… don’t confront them right now. Please?”

 The Doctor made a low hissing sound, but unfurled his fist and brought it up to caress the side of Sarah’s neck. “I won’t,” he relented.

 Sarah’s hands curled into the fabric of the man’s shirt as she went up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. He responded by kissing her temple.

 With that, they separated. The Doctor did his best to not look at Javo and Leva for the minutes they were in the training courtyard.

 ********

 “They went back on our deal,” the Doctor stated after a quiet dinner.

 Sarah’s hand unconsciously went up to gently rub at the forming bruise along her jaw. “I know.” She cleared her throat “You didn’t…?”

 The Doctor shook his head. “You’re right. Confronting them about it… they’d want that. Playing into their hands more, probably.”

 “Get us into more trouble, somehow.”

 “Still, this cannot stand. I won’t allow it.”

 “Doctor, I’m… I’m fine. Just a few bruises. Nothing to worry about.”

 “This time, Sarah. This time.” The Timelord blew out a hard breath, and opened the door to the balcony. He leaned forward on the railing and closed his eyes. He breathed in the cool evening air.

 Sarah followed him out, and looped her arm in his. She leaned sideways against him, and stared out at the view.

 “It doesn’t matter how little you were hurt. I mean, it does, of course, but not…” He covered his face with a hand.

 Sarah laid her hands over the Doctor’s forearm and nuzzled the side of her head against his shoulder. When he uncovered his face a long moment later, she said, “This was already bad enough with just you being a gladiator of sorts. But now…”

 “I could handle that. As long as you were kept safe away from any harm, I could handle it. But now… There will be a next time, and if they put you in a real fight with Shana…”

 Sarah shuddered slightly at the prospect. It had been obvious the other woman had really been holding back.

 “There will be a next time, and it’ll keep getting worse.”

 “Until we consent to what they really want,” Sarah understood.

 The Doctor flinched and looked down to her.

 “I’m not saying that’s an option,” Sarah quickly said.

 The Doctor sighed and returned his gaze to the city skyline. “I know.”

 “We’ll be out of here before it gets to that,” Sarah said to reassure herself and the Doctor.

 The Doctor nodded, but didn’t verbally respond. He continued staring ahead, not really seeing anything now. His mind raced with possibilities of convincing Javo and Leva to leave Sarah alone.

 Sarah also stared out ahead, thinking of what she could do to stop any more harm coming to the Doctor.


	16. Chapter 16

 “Your time is running low.”

 The Doctor and Sarah flinched and turned at Leva’s voice behind them. The Timelord remarked, “Accosting us on our way back to our apartment?” He pushed Sarah partly behind him.

 Leva tilted her head and gave a predatory smile. “Next time could even be in your apartment.”

 Sarah shuddered, but kept her gaze on the other woman.

 “And I do so want to see you train and fight, Sarah.”

 “That is not happening,” the Doctor hissed. “That one time, your little assessment, is enough.”

 Leva looked around the Doctor to address Sarah. “And what do you say?”

 Sarah’s fist tightened on the back of the Doctor’s shirt. “You should be honouring the deal we made about this,” she tried diplomatically.

 “We could, but no one says we have to,” Leva countered. She took two steps towards the pair, her gaze aimed at Sarah.

 The Doctor instantly side-stepped to hide Sarah completely behind him, and Leva stopped just short of colliding into him.

 Leva simply moved her eyes up to meet his. “Now this could be interesting.”

 The Doctor didn’t move, only glaring at the woman in response to her raising her fingers to his chest.

 “What a position… You, between me and Sarah.”

 “You-” Sarah made to move from behind the man, but the Timelord kept her there by putting his arms back around her.

 Leva pressed her hand firmly against the man’s ribcage, and slowly moved it up. “You don’t find that at all intriguing? Us… sharing you?”

 “Not particularly,” the Doctor replied coldly.

 “We don’t share,” Sarah stated.

 “You will, one way or another. This way is… more mutual.”

 “Keep telling yourself that. It won’t be true.”

 Leva simply laughed lightly at the protest. “Or perhaps the Doctor and I could share you, Sarah?”

 “Did you hear what she said?” the Doctor responded before Sarah could. “We don’t share. Either way.”

 Leva’s hand reached the Doctor’s cheek, and she leaned in very close. Her lips ghosted over the Doctor’s with only the slightest possible amount of contact.

Sarah had seen enough, and made to move out from behind the Doctor to push Leva away, but the Timelord’s grip on her tightened, holding her back.

 Leva pulled away a few inches. “I wonder… what about your earlier offer?”

 The Doctor, already still, couldn’t stiffen much more at the words.

 “What offer?” Sarah asked.

 “You didn't tell her?” Leva made a small chiding sound. “Didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily, I understand.”

 Sarah knew not to ask the Doctor what exactly she was talking about now. Later.

 Leva moved in close again, though not as close as before. “Javo is more patient than me. But when I decide I want to take what I want, he will be right alongside me.” Her thumb stroked the side of the Doctor’s nose. then she backed away and turned. She gave an airy wave behind her as she walked away.

 The couple didn't linger, and hurried to the safety of their apartment. Sarah feared that the next encounter would be in this haven, and she didn’t know what to do when it came to that.

 “Why’d you stop me from pushing her away from you?” Sarah asked, more to fill the silence than actually know the answer.

 “For the same reason you stopped me from confronting them after your fight with Shana.” It was obvious his mind was on something else.

 Sarah turned from him, her thumb pressed against her teeth in anxiety. A moment later, she looked to him again. “What offer was she talking about?”

 The Doctor let out a long breath. “When she and Javo had me in that empty apartment, I…” There really was no point in not telling her this now. It would only stay in her mind until he did. “I asked if I gave my consent to their… attention, if they would leave you alone.”

 Sarah grimaced. “Doctor, you didn’t-”

 “I was trying to see all possible options,” the Timelord defended.

 Sarah sighed, and stepped toward him. She knew he would’ve gone through with it if Javo and Leva had agreed. She didn’t bring that up, needing more than a few seconds to process the idea. Could she have made that same type of offer to protect him? Then could she have actually gone through with it? She reached out to take his hand. “And what did they say?”

 “They won’t allow me to compromise with you in that way again.”

 “You have already done it once, to get me out of fighting. But if they’re going to go back on that one...” Sarah mused quietly. She looked up to his eyes. “If they had agreed to it, would you have… have agreed right then and there?”

 “I was looking for possible options, Sarah. Seeing what they might and might not allow.” He flashed a small teasing smile. “Besides, when have you known me to act without thought?”

 “A fair few times,” Sarah replied.

 “Not for something this important.” The Doctor took both of Sarah’s hands and raised them to his mouth.

 ********

 “Sarah?”

 Sarah flinched, and turned. Yevan was waiting for her this time next to the partner walkway. “Oh, hey.” She leaned towards him to whisper, “I really hope you have good news for us.”

 Yevan glanced around, and refocused on Sarah when she laid a hand on his arm to calm him and make him not as conspicuous. “I have a friend who works in legal matters.”

 “That’s good.”

 “She’s not certain of the situation on the surface.”

 Sarah sighed in disappointment. “But everything was done legally? Them taking us for servitude?”

 Yevan nodded. “She’ll think on it more, but that’s all I can say at the moment.”

 “Better than nothing.” Sarah lightly squeezed the man’s forearm. “Thanks for trying.”

 “Not a problem. You’re well, otherwise? I haven’t seen him be injured majorly.”

 “We’re...” Sarah closed her eyes for a second. “We’re alright, yeah. Just really don’t want to be here.” She cleared her throat. “I should get going.”

 Yevan nodded, and went to return to his seat.

 Sarah went to the partner viewing box, not completely disappointed. At least someone was thinking about getting them out of here. The question now was if they could manage it before Javo and Leva got too impatient and took what they wanted.

 Sarah watched the Doctor's match intently, a team match with Malenkis against two other fighters. Part of her wished it was her by his side than the seasoned experienced fighter. but the other more practical part of her knew he was probably better off without her out there with him. Less for him to worry about.

 Until Javo and Leva might decide to make her fight.


End file.
